The Pursuit of Family
by eemah
Summary: As the teenagers in the Foster house begin to grow so do their troubles. Follow them as they go on journeys involving love, lies, sex, drugs, heartbreak, self-approval, college, and much more... As they go through their trials and tribulations they start to realize just how important family is. Callie/Brandon are 18, Mariana/Jesus are 17, and Jude is 15
1. A Complicated Family

**A/N:** So, I am pretty much half way through with writing this story already. An update will be posted every Saturday. I will let everybody know if there will be an hiatus. I must warn you guys I rated this story T because there is sex, but it is not explicit. However, there is some violence and I will warn you guys the chapters that do have it. I hope you guys enjoy my story, please rate and review!

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: A Complicated Family<br>**

Callie Jacobs looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her brunette hair was now black. Her eyes were a little darker then she remembered, or maybe it was because the outer part was bruised. She took the concealer that was on the sink and began to cover it up.

"Do we really have to go to this dinner?" She heard her boyfriend whine from behind her.

"It's my brothers birthday dinner." The teenager looked back at him. He was tall in stature, about six foot three to be exact. He had really blond hair that was spiked. His eyes were this crystal blue. He was average weight, with muscle tone, but no abs or ripped muscles.

He gave a dry laugh. "The brother that doesn't even like you." His arms were crossed as he stayed in the threshold of the bathroom.

"We might not be getting along right now, but I have never missed one of my brothers birthdays and I am not about to start now!" Her voice was thick with passion.

Noah sighed deeply, looking at his girlfriend up and down. "You know you could do something better with your hair. It looks really awful."

"Thanks." She responded coldly. Slowly she turned back around to finish applying her make-up. In the back of her head she wished that he would just go away.

A couple of minutes later she got her wish as he walked out of the bathroom. Presumably bored by the process of making herself look nice. It wasn't something that he was particularly used too. There weren't many instances when she would get up and glam herself up like this.

She finished smoothly applying the makeup to hide the bruise that surrounded her right eye. Her hair was looking a little bad, so she grabbed the brush and began to brush her hair down. Her shirt slipped off of her shoulder and another bruise appeared. She quickly covered it up with her shirt. "I better take this with me." Her voice echoed through the bathroom walls as she placed the concealer in her purse.

A couple of minutes later, she looked back in the mirror at her reflection. It had been a long time since she had spent this much time in the mirror. Honestly, she hated the way she looked no matter what she put on. "I guess this will have to do." She whispered to herself.

As she walked out of the bathroom she began to wonder why her boyfriend hadn't been pestering her to hurry up. Patience wasn't one of his best attributes. When she entered the kitchen, she figured out exactly what was keeping him occupied. "Please don't get drunk before we get to Stef and Lena's."

His blue eyes shot her a look of annoyance. "It was just two beers. It would take me way more than that to get drunk."

The teenager rolled her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was get into a huge fight with him. It would end up very bad and probably stop her entire plans. "Come on, let's go."

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><p>"Does Noah have to come with Callie?" Mariana whined as she looked up at her moms who were preparing food in the kitchen for the big dinner.<p>

"Weather we like it or not that is her boyfriend. We have to respect her wishes." Lena replied to her daughter.

"What mom is trying to say is yes, he does." Stef stated in more simple terms.

"I really don't like that guy. He gives me a bad vibe." She stated as she went over to a piece of fruit that was on the table and began to pick at it.

"He gives us all a bad vibe sweetie. But the more we push her to leave him and come home. The more she will push to stay with him." Lena replied.

"I guess." The teenager looked up at the clock and knew that they would be here any minute.

Brandon walked down the steps to find all the woman of the house in the kitchen. "This is what I like to see. Three beautiful ladies in the kitchen preparing the food." It was a joke, but it must not have been a very funny one because they all gave him a death stare.

"We will not even touch on how sexist that is. I know I raised you better than that." Stef said about the joke.

Just then the doorbell rang and Brandon didn't even hesitate to go answer it. Anything to get him out of that awkward situation.

"Hey babe." A teenage girl said as she kissed Brandon on the lips sweetly.

"Hi..." He blushed as his current girlfriend walked passed him and into his house. He shut the door behind him and took her jacket for her.

Mariana ran up to the front door thinking it was Callie, but was a bit disappointed when she saw who it was. Mackenzie, the new girlfriend that Brandon must've ran into at some beauty pageant. As much as Mariana hated to admit it, she was a very pretty girl, but also very dimwitted.

"Hey, Mackenzie. Stef and I were just finishing up some last minute cooking in the kitchen. Why don't you come and join us?" Lena asked with a warming smile.

"You can call me Kenzie for short. And sure, I'd love to help you." She smiled back as she glanced back at Brandon while she followed the older lady.

Mariana rolled her eyes and began to walk up the stairs. "Why do my siblings have to have the worse taste in partners ever?" She whispered under her breath.

"At least we can get partners." Brandon retorted. He thought he had won the insult contest but then he felt a slight 'thud' on his head. "Ouch", he looked down and saw that she had thrown a pen. "Very funny!"

Jesus walked down the steps just then. "So, Jude basically locked himself into our room and stated that he doesn't want us to make a big deal out of his birthday."

Brandon gave Jesus a look as if to say he was confused.

"I don't know bro. You know I am the worse person to relate to that emotional stuff. I tried to talk to him, but I don't think it went so well." He looked up at his brother and with a forced laugh said, "I think I might have actually made it worse."

"I will go talk to him." He said sternly.

"Thanks man! That's why your the oldest." Jesus said as he hit him on the arm.

The brunette nodded his head. As he walked up the steps to his youngest brothers room. He hesitated before he knocked on the door. His relationship with Jude has been very strained lately. The only reason he even agreed to this was because not many people knew what was really going on between them. It would be to suspicious to Jesus if he flat out said no to his request. With a very large sigh, he knocked on the door.

"Come in." Jude said from the other side of the door.

"Hey, bud." Brandon said as normal as he possibly could.

"What are you doing here?" The young boy shot back with an attitude. "You are the last person I want to see, next to my sister."

"Jesus told me that you don't want to celebrate your birthday. And I know that you really don't like me right now, but if you don't walk down those steps moms are going to get really suspicious..."

"Let them!" He stood on both of his feet. His older brother was at least a whole foot taller then him, but he stood his ground. "I am so tired of this! I am tired of you and I am tired of my sister. I wish you two would just..."

"Listen, I know you are mad at us. I understand why you are mad at us. But Callie and I aren't together anymore. We are both with different people. If you could just forgive us for the past, you will be able to see that we are a happy family."

He gave a dry laugh. "No, in your perfect mind we are a happy family. I was way happier when it was just me and Callie. But she had to leave because of her feelings for you! I hate you for making her feel that way and I hate her for choosing you over me!"

Brandon hung his head in shame. "We never meant to hurt you." He leaned down and placed his hand on Jude's shoulder. "I can't tell you how sorry I am, but you are my brother. And I love you. I know that Callie loves you too. Just because she isn't in this house anymore doesn't mean that everything has to be different."

"Yes it does. You will never understand how much it does because you have never been bounced from foster home to foster home since you were little. The only stability I had in my life was her! And now because of you...I don't even have that anymore."

The oldest Foster was running out of things to say to his youngest brother. "Jude.."

"I will go downstairs because I love Stef, Lena, Mariana, Jesus, and Emily. But do me a favor and pretend that I don't exist." He knocked Brandon's hand off of his shoulder, bumped into him slightly, and walked out of his bedroom. Leaving Brandon speechless in the middle of his room.

The doorbell rang a few minutes later while the entire family was in the kitchen putting the final details on their meal.

"I'll get it!" Mariana said excitedly. She practically skipped to the door and squealed in excitement when she finally saw her sister. "Callie!" She screamed as she embraced the only sister-like figure she had with a huge bear hug.

"I missed you too!" She laughed as she continued to hold on to her as they were in the entryway.

Noah just stood and watched the two girls as they held their embrace. Never leaving Callie's side.

Once they got out of the hug, the two held hands as they started walking toward the kitchen. Mariana looked up and gave a small "hi" to her sisters boyfriend.

"I actually love having my own room again, but I really miss having a girl to be with in this house full of men."

"Hey! I think mom, Emily, and I take that kind of offensively." Stef playfully argued as she hugged someone who was like a daughter to her. Callie had never been officially adopted because of the papers with her father.

"Not to be rude but you and mom are old. And as much as I love Emily she can't even speak." She pointed to her baby sister who was babbling happily in her high chair.

Callie laughed at Mariana as she made her way around the room to give out hugs. There was a bit of hesitation with Jude and Brandon, but it seemed like they played it off well because the rest of the family didn't seem to mind.

Then she got to this almost platinum blond girl, with big breasts, and a skinny frame. She looked like Pamela Anderson's character from Baywatch. Her breasts were definitely real though. "Hi, Callie Jacobs."

"Mackenzie Nichols, but everybody just calls me Kenzie." She introduced herself.

"Jesus, I didn't know you were into older girls. Whatever happened to Emma?"

"Oh, she is actually my girlfriend." Brandon replied for Jesus. "He still dates Emma."

"Yeah, she just couldn't make it tonight." He continued for his brother.

A little taken aback by the way the girl looked she tried to laugh off her mistake. "I'm sorry. I just didn't think you were Brandon's type." She spoke honestly and blunt. A hint of jealousy came out of her voice, but mostly just shock.

"Okay, so on that note, how about we start dinner?" Lena said breaking the moment almost instantly.

"Sounds like a plan, I am starving!" Jesus said as he ran over to the buffet of food that his parents had prepared.

Everybody else followed suit. As they sat around the table everybody ate, laughed, and caught up. Well, almost everybody. Emily was a baby, so she ate got fussy and Stef took her upstairs to put her to bed. Noah just sat back, watched, only spoke when spoken too, and continued to enjoy his beer more than the company. Jude was a bit down, but he kept a smile on his face because he knew his moms worked hard to prepare this.

Stef came walking down the stairs with the baby monitor. "Who is ready for dessert?" She said noticeably exhausted, but still in very good spirits.

All the teenagers raised their hands. The woman walked over to the refrigerator and came out with a large cake that read 'Happy Birthday Jude'.

Lena walked over to the drawer and got the candles. She lit them up and everybody began to sing in unison the birthday song. "Make a wish sweetie."

Jude closed his eyes and blew out his candles. Everybody clapped and sat back down to prepare themselves for the cake. The dinner had left little room for dessert.

As the cake began to get served, Noah spoke, and everybody turned in astonishment. "I think you should wrap ours to go. It's getting pretty late."

Callie looked at her boyfriend, it had not been discussed with her that it was time to leave. She didn't want to get into an argument in front of her family so she calmly looked at the rest of her family. "Yeah, we should be going."

"Sure sweetheart." Lena said as she began to put their cakes in a private plate.

"I'm going to go out to the car. I'll see you there." Noah said as he stood up. He thanked and said goodbye to the entire family. Then left abruptly.

"He is probably just tired." She gave an excuse for him.

"Sure..." Stef said as she sat at the table. Everybody gave eye contact with one another.

"If nobody else is going to say it then I will. That guy is a jerk! And I hate that you have to live with him!" Jude stood up and said to his sister.

"I am sorry, bud. But I have to go. Maybe we can hang out another day?"

"No thank you. Since you want to live with that jerk so bad, then you can hang out with him." He said harshly.

"Jude..." She was about to say something when he just ran up the stairs. It took everything for her not to run after him. "I'm sorry guys. I will definitely see you guys later." The last person that she gave eye contact to was Brandon. He gave her an intense stare, then looked away quickly.

"Don't forget your cake." Lena said as she rushed over to the teenager and gave her a bag filled with food and cake.

"Thank you so much." She hugged her mother figure. "I will be back soon, I promise." After that she left.

"We aren't going to see her again until Christmas, are we?" Mariana asked as she heard the front door shut.

"I think we will be lucky if we even see her then." Jesus replied as everybody looked down at the cake on their plates.

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><p>Callie walked into the apartment fuming with rage about the way that he had left the Foster house. "Do you always have to embarrass me!?" She placed her sweater on the couch and the leftovers inside the refrigerator.<p>

"I embarrassed you!" His voice raised in anger. "You embarrassed me!"

She gave him a dry laugh. "Oh, really? How? By actually spending time with my family?"

"I don't know. How the fuck would you feel if I sat on the side of you while I flirted with my ex, who also happens to be my sister, over the table!" He yelled at her.

"You are drunk. You are seeing things. I was having conversation. I was having conversation with everybody at the table." She spat back.

"So now I am seeing shit." He could feel the blood boiling in his veins from all of the anger. "I knew I shouldn't have come tonight. I hate your 'family' it's filled with a bunch of fags, immigrants, and incestuous siblings!"

She couldn't believe the stuff coming out of his mouth. "Yeah, way better than the drunk that you are." She said under her breath as she walked away from him.

"What the hell did you say?" All of a sudden he just saw black as he ran up to her and placed her against the wall.

She was trying to speak back but he was choking her neck. All she could do was gag for air. Her feet were dangling from the ground he was holding her so high and hard.

"Fuck those people. I am your family now." He could see that she was beginning to turn red so he pulled her off of the wall and threw her like a doll onto the carpet.

Callie coughed hard to regain some air.

"Nobody loves you like I love you. And don't you ever forget that."


	2. For the Love of a Sibling

**A/N: **Thank you guys for the amazing reviews! I think because there were so many and this chapter is just a filler chapter, I am probably going to put up chapter three tomorrow night. I hope you guys enjoy it!

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: For the Love of a Sibling <strong>

Callie lied awake staring at the alarm clock. She knew that he would wake up soon and want to have sex before he went off to work. In her head she knew that this wasn't right, but she was stuck. She had nowhere to go. The Fosters house wasn't comfortable anymore. The two people that she was closest to despised her. Her biological father turned out to be just like every other man that she ever let in her life, a disappointment. The alarm clock went off, causing her heart to drop.

Noah let out a small moan as he awoke to the sound of the alarm clock. He turned to see if Callie was sleeping. "Are you awake?"

She didn't respond. Hoping that if she would pretend to sleep that he would just leave her alone. It never really worked, but she hoped that one day it would.

"Come on...help me get rid of this morning wood before I go to work." Without even asking or any foreplay, he climbed on top of her.

The teenager pretended to wake up slowly. Just like every morning she had emotionless sex with him. There was no telling this guy no and if she did it would turn out to a really bad beating. She had scars on her ribcage to prove it.

After about ten minutes of physical sex, he got off of her, and walked into the shower. This was a typical morning for her. She couldn't wait until he left for work. That was the only time that there was peace in the apartment. However, he did expect for the apartment to be spotless and a cooked meal on the table before he returned home.

She turned back around to go to bed.

"What did you do with my pills?" Was all she heard as she was just about to fall asleep.

"They are in the top drawer." She answered groggy.

He went over to the top drawer. There were dozens of prescription pill bottles with names such as ambien, seroquel, xanax, adderall, Oxycontin, and vicodin. He shuffled through them, and pulled a bottle out. "The xanax is getting really low, you haven't been using any while I'm gone, have you?"

Finally, just giving up on sleep she stood up. "No, I know the rules the only thing I can do when you are not here is drink and smoke cigarettes."

"Okay, just making sure. I don't remember us indulging in this many pills." Noah looked over at his girlfriend. Her jet black hair was a frizzy wild mess. She looked a bit irritated. but that didn't bother him.

"Well, we are always fucked up already when we take those." She was about to give an excuse when he cut her off...

"Are you saying that I'm a liar?"

"No..." She said meekly.

"Good." He popped a few pills in his hands, swallowed them without any water, and then placed them back into the drawer. "I will see you when I get back from work." The blond walked over to his girlfriend and kissed her on the cheek. "Please do something with your hair before I get back."

She gave him a fake smile. Then put her fist up happy that he was finally gone. This was the only time of the day when she could actually breathe. Too bad she wasn't really able to speak to anybody though. All her friends had left her because they couldn't understand why she was with him. Noah had basically cut off contact with her family. She had to fight tooth and nail just to be able to go over for Jude's birthday a couple of weeks ago.

A smile crossed her face as she got out of bed and began her morning routine of taking a shower, brushing her teeth, and picking out some clothes to wear. When all of her personal hygiene chores were finished, she went into the kitchen and poured her a glass of grey goose and mixed it with her orange juice. It was early in the morning to be drinking, but the drugs were the only way she coped with everything that was going on in her life now. While most eighteen year old's were out enjoying their freshman year at college, she was trying to find a way to escape this situation she had gotten herself into. Although, there was apart of her that really loved Noah. That part is the reason that she stayed.

She knew she only had a few hours until he would return home expecting a meal. So she decided to take one of her many cigarette breaks now. She walked out to the front of the apartment building. It was pretty deserted at this time of the day. All the productive people were at work or school. She lit the cigarette and let the toxins go deep into her lungs. As she blew the smoke out she could feel all the stress release from her body.

"I didn't know you smoked cigarettes now?" A male voice came up from behind her.

The black head got so frightened that she choked on the smoke. She turned around to see the last person she ever expected in front of her.

"Yeah, well there is plenty of shit that you don't know about me now." Callie replied harshly to none other than Brandon.

"I can see." He touched the skin of her arm that was showing, and slowly caressed the big bruise that was there.

"I ran into the dresser during the night when I was half asleep." She quickly made up an excuse.

"Yeah, sure. Look, I am not here to patronize you about your relationship." He said sternly.

"Then why are you here? Because the last conversation I remember us having you said that you hated me and never wanted to see me again." The memory was so painful, yet she was numb to that emotion at this present time in her life. She was numb to most things.

"If it were up to me, you would be out of my life forever." He looked down at his feet. This conversation was harder than he thought. "But it isn't about me and you. It's about Jude. He took everything pretty hard, especially, what happened between us."

"He should have never known about you and I. He should have never known about all of this." Okay, maybe she wasn't numb to her emotions for her brother. "I let him down all the time. He has a family and I am not apart of that family. If I was I wouldn't have been fucking you."

Brandon sighed heavily, his green eyes finally met with her brown ones. Ignoring everything she had just said he stated, "I think you need to sneak out of here one day and go talk to him."

She nodded her head no. "He hates me and you hate me. I think he is better off with me away. I am better off being away from you. I can't stay under the same roof as you without something happening between us. This is my home now."

He lifted his arms up in frustration. "I am not trying to get you to move back in with us. This conversation is hard enough, living with you after what you did to me would be hell. I just need you to make Jude realize that this is whats best for everybody. But you know what, I forgot how selfish you are. Just let the only person that ever stood by you hurt. At least I tried." With that he began to walk away.

With his back turned she said coldly. "I WILL talk to MY brother. I know you still don't understand why I did what I did, but one day you will realize it was the best thing." She threw her cigarette on the ground and stomped on it.

From the corner of his eye, he watched as she blew that last breath of cigarette smoke, and walked into her apartment complex. 

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><p>Later on that night, in the Foster house, Mariana was stuck babysitting Emily. Stef and Lena had gone out on one of their date-nights. Jude was at a therapy session. Jesus was out with Emma.<p>

"Everybody has a life but me." She said to her baby sister who was playing in her toy pen.

She was about to consult with her baby sister some more when the door opened and Jesus came running in.

"I need you to tell Emma I was with you tonight." He said out of breath. "Please! If you do me this one favor I will owe you big time."

As she was contemplating whether she would do it, Emma walked in. "Hey guys." She said with a smile.

"Hi!" Mariana said just as enthusiastically back.

"What were you guys doing?" She asked looking around the living room to see if she could find anything suspicious.

"Nothing, we were just playing with Emily." Mariana lied so well that she even believed it.

"Oh, okay." You could hear the relief in Emma's voice.

"See, I told you that there was nothing going on." Jesus said as he began to walk his girlfriend to the door. "You should really learn how to trust me. What is a relationship without that?"

"I know. You're right. It's just that I keep getting this funny feeling that..."

"And that is all it is. It is a funny feeling." He leaned down and kissed her. "I will see you tomorrow at school. I can even pick you up before school. We can play around a bit before first period."

"I will see how I feel in the morning." She confessed.

"Okay, I love you." He watched as she got into her friend's car. Once they were far out of sight, he closed the door. When he turned around nobody other than his twin sister was waiting there with her arms crossed.

"What was that about?"

"Nothing, mind your own business." He stated as he began to walk up the stairs.

Mariana quickly ran to grab Emily and started following her brother up to his room. "I thought you were on a date with Emma. Unless you guys are into weird three person dates, you must've been somewhere else."

He turned to look his sister in the face. "Drop it."

"I will not drop it! You owe me one for covering your behind with her just now. So unless you tell me what is going on, I can definitely let your girlfriend know that I lied. Her boyfriend was not with his twin sister watching his other sister. He was out for hours doing something secretive..."

"I was on a date. I just wasn't on a date with Emma." He walked into his room. "There, you happy now?" Rudely, he shut the door before she could even respond.

Emily was getting a bit fussy in her arms. She heard Jude come in from therapy, which means Brandon was home too, because there would be nobody else to pick him up. So she met her oldest brother at his room. "Here take her." She placed Emily on Brandon's bed and walked off. Then she knocked on Jesus' door until he finally got irritated and answered.

"What?"

"Are you some type of man whore or what? You can't break up with girls before you start dating other ones? First Lexi and now Emma."

"It's different."

"How?" Her arms were crossed in disgust at her twin brother. "You had me lie for you when you were out there doing exactly what she thought you were doing."

"You are not a guy, so you wouldn't understand." He stated simply.

"So if I were Emma and a guy was treating me like this, you would find it okay because he is a guy?"

"I'd kill him. But you are my sister. It's different."

"No, it's not! You have to start treating these women better." She was about to lecture him when he gave her a look.

"Listen, I am a man. I love Emma. We are in a relationship and that is my girlfriend. But sometimes I want something other than Emma. So I go out for a night or two and get something other than her. She is the one I take out on dates, who gets the title, and is the number one girl in my life. The rest of those woman don't mean a thing but casual sex."

"You can't have your cake and eat it too." Was all that Mariana said. "I don't know where you can come off and be so sexist. We were raised by two women!"

"Exactly! You are a woman, so you don't understand. There is no such things as monogamy. It is just something people make up to feel special."

"I am not going to lecture you anymore about this. You do what you want it is your life, but do not ask me to cover for you again. I will not do it." She gave her brother a death glare and then walked away.

"This is why I didn't want to tell you in the first place!" He called after her. 


	3. The Jealous Type

**A/N: **This story is a passion project for me. It's a bit more personal than my other stories because it actually touches topics that I've seen happen to a close friend/family member, or I went through myself. There is, of course fiction mixed with some reality. I want to thank you all for reviewing, following, or even just reading this. The next chapter will be up next Saturday. **WARNING: THERE IS VIOLENCE IN THIS CHAPTER!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3:The Jealous Type<br>**

Frantically, Callie glared at the clock. It would only be a couple of short minutes until Noah walked through that door. Her hands moved faster than she ever thought possible as she continued to cook. The meal was almost ready, her hair was done just the way that he liked it, and the apartment was spotless. A sigh of relief came over her as she began to put the finished food on his plate. It was just then when the door opened, letting his six-foot three frame enter through it.

"Hi, welcome home." Her voice was full of false enthusiasm. In her mind she actually wished she had more time to herself. Yes, she loved having adult conversation with him. But she hated the fact that every word she said she had to think twice before saying it.

"Dinner smells great." He said back to her as he kissed her on the forehead. His body was sore from working all day. He worked in a factory building all day lifting heavy boxes.

The teenager smiled as she let her boyfriend kiss her. Once he pulled away, she noticed a black box underneath his arms. "What is that?"

Noah looked at her and then back down at the box. "This is just another one of my toys." He smiled as he placed the box on the table. He pulled up the lid to reveal a hand gun. "It's a FMK 9C1." His words were filled with pure joy.

She knew how much he loved guns, but she hated these devices. They really scared her. "Can we put the gun away? It's time for dinner anyway."

He gave her a look. "You're lucky that I really am hungry." He placed the lid back on the box, then walked it into the bedroom, and placed it in the locked nightstand drawer that was filled with the rest of his guns. When he walked back out, there was a plate of food waiting for him at the table.

She watched as he ate her food with content. It was no surprise that she wasn't really hungry, so she played with hers a bit.

"Did any of our clients come today?" His blue eyes shot up from his plate to see if she was paying attention.

"The normals came. I put it all in the notebook."

"Can you go bring it to me?"

Stepping away from the table, she went to go get the notebook. It was actually refreshing to be asked to do something instead of told, even though there wasn't an option to say no.

"I'm telling you. That crackhead Hayden pays for half of the bills in this place." He laughed as he looked at the inventory of the drugs they ran through the apartment.

"Mhmm..." As he spoke, she began to wonder how her life had turned out this way. She was stuck in an abusive relationship, selling drugs, and needing drugs to get through the day. It wasn't exactly where she hoped to be at eighteen years old.

"Listen, why don't we go out to the movies or something?" The blond looked up and asked.

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Really?" Her head cocked back a little.

"Yeah, we are doing really well with the business. You haven't been out of this apartment since your brother's birthday. I think we both deserve it."

"Sure..." She hopped out of her seat and grabbed the dishes to clean them.

"Don't worry about those." He came up from behind her and hugged her from the back. "You can get those when we come back."

It wasn't exactly the perfect thing to say, but it was a start.

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><p>Brandon walked down the stairs where the rest of his family was eating dinner. He had a smile on his face from cheek to cheek. "I just got off of the phone with the dean from Juilliard. They still want me!" He said loudly.<p>

"Oh, sweetie that's great!" Lena ran up to him and gave him a huge hug.

Stef looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah, that's so wonderful."

"I know. I thought for sure that they wouldn't let me come back after I differed a semester, but they were really impressed with the piece I did for them during my audition." He sat down at the table while his siblings continued to congratulate him.

"I knew all those years of listening to you playing the piano until my ears bled would pay off." Mariana poked fun at her older brother.

"I just can't believe your moving all the way to New York City. That is on the other side of the country." Jesus said in awe. "I definitely can't wait to come and visit you."

"Hey, it's supposed to be about Brandon here, not you." Lena stated to her son.

Stef looked up. That was going to be the hardest part about this whole thing. Letting her son go so far away from her. They hadn't been that far apart for such a long period, ever! "It's going to take some adjusting to watch you leave. You're my baby." She said in a fake sad voice. "But I am so proud of you!"

"That school is super hard to get into." Jude chimed in to nobody in particular.

Brandon looked over at him with a hopeful smile, but the same expression was not given back to him.

Jude just gave him a solemn look and then looked back down at his plate.

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><p>Callie was fast sleep on her boyfriends bare chest in their shared bedroom. They had just made the most passionate love, ever, between them. A vibrating sound pierced through the dark, silent room, and it awoke her.<p>

Noah stood up a bit, then looked at his phone. He tried to move her from him without waking her up, not realizing the phone had already done so.

"Who was that?" She asked sleepily as she got up to let him get off of the bed.

"Nobody, it was just an e-mail." He put on his boxers and a T-shirt. "I'm just going to go smoke a cigarette. Go back to sleep." He whispered.

The teenager didn't say anything back. She tended to always take what he said with a grain of salt, but there was no real arguing with him. It made the relationship easier when she was just passive aggressive. So, as he demanded, she turned back around and tried to fall back asleep.

Noah walked into the living room area, closing the bedroom door quietly behind him. The apartment was very cramped. There was only so much that he could afford in San Diego on a lifter paycheck. That barely paid rent. Selling drugs paid for mostly everything that he owned, and shared with Callie.

He walked down the steps into the parking lot of the apartment complex.

"Hey, sexy." A girls voice said coming from behind him.

He smiled widely as he went over to her and gave her a kiss. "I missed you." He whispered in between slow sweet kisses.

"I missed you too." She said as she made the kissing more passionate. She was about to start pulling down his boxers, when he stopped her.

"I can't." He stated simply.

The woman looked at her lover and then down at his private area. "You just fucked the teenager, didn't you?" She asked in a smart tone.

The young man nodded his head yes. "It was the best sex I ever had with her." He said in a matter-of-fact type of way.

"I'm glad, but now who is supposed to finish me off?" She asked in a playfully.

"I don't know." He shrugged his shoulders. Then he took out the cigarette that he was supposed to be smoking out here. "Maybe your husband, I think that is one of his duties to you."

She laughed at the thought of her and her husband having sex. "I think the last time we actually did that was when you were probably in diapers."

He let out a dry laugh. "I promise you tomorrow. I'll just go into work late. Your husband won't be home in the morning will he?"

"No..." She stated happily. "I wish you never let that little brat live with you. It was way more fun when I had you all to myself." The older woman stated as she slowly moved her finger up and down his chest, through the thin fabric of his T-shirt.

"She's a good girl. She cooks, cleans, and even does some selling when I am at work. I really care about her." He said placing the cigarette in his mouth. "I mean she can get a little whiny at times, but it's nothing a little discipline can't fix."

"Your relationship with her is none of my business. As long as you keep me satisfied." She winked at him. "Just make sure your using condoms with her, I saw her with some brunette guy earlier today."

His eyes widened as the image of just who that brunette guy could be. "What did you say?"

"She was with this other teenager today. I was walking to my car to go to work and I saw them talking. I don't blame her. The guy was kind of handsome..."

"I have to go." He said as he dropped the cigarette that wasn't even half way done yet.

"Hey, that is still a good cigarette!" She screamed after him.

In a blind range he hurried up the steps to get to the third floor that they stayed at. He walked into the apartment door and pushed through the bedroom door.

The loud noise of the door startled her, so she stood straight up. "What's going on?"

He raised his right hand and slapped her so hard across the face that her naked body flew out of the bed.

"Are you fucking your brother again!?"

"What...no..." She breathed heavy between words. The utter shock of his hit was hurting her more than the real pain.

"You are a liar!" He said as he walked over to her and began to kick her on her side. "I just spoke to a neighbor! They said they saw you two!" With every sentence he kicked her.

She screamed out in pain. "Stop! Please!" Was all that she could scream out as she hunched her body to the fetal position.

In a weird way, he actually listened to her, but this time trading kicks for punches. "You are a lying whore!" With a closed fist he began to punch her in her face. "I am the one that took you in when nobody fucking wanted your ass. And this is how you repay me?" With each word the punches became harder.

She could feel blood starting to pour out of her nose. In her head she thought this was going to be the last fight that they ever had. The fight or flight adrenaline rush ran through her veins as she turned her body and kicked him off of her. Making a mad dash to the bathroom.

"Bitch!" She heard him scream.

With all of her might she ran to the bathroom, but he caught up with her right before her hand could touch the doorknob. "No!" She screamed.

His hands wrapped around her black hair as he pulled her down by it. Her body made a loud 'thump' noise.

"Don't you ever run away from me." He said to her as he began to wrap his hands around her neck. "I will kill you!" He picked her up and through her against a wall.

Her frail body slid down to the ground again. The adrenaline was still rushing through her veins, so she couldn't feel any of the pain. She took her arms and grabbed for the floor lamp that was only a few inches away from her. Once she had a strong hold of it, she swung it to hit him on his side. He fell down and it gave her just enough time to run and lock herself in the bathroom.

"Open this door!" He yelled while trying to break it down. "Open it! I give you a place to stay, food to eat, all the drugs you can want, and my love." He was about to continue the long list of things that he had done for her, when there was a knock on the door.

He let go of the doorknob and came back to reality. He looked down at his body and saw that his fist and white T-shirt had splatter of blood on it.

"Is everything alright in there?" A voice came from on the other side of the door.

Noah walked over to the door and opened it slightly, only to show his face. "Yes, everything is fine."

The neighbor looked at him suspiciously, but could see that there was no reason to press him further. "Okay, can you try to keep it down? I have children who are trying to sleep next door."

"Sorry about that. It won't happen again." He promised with a friendly smile. Once the neighbor went into her apartment next door, he closed his door. Quietly he walked over to the bathroom door, his demeanor was way more calm than before. "Cal...Callie. I am sorry. I just get so jealous because I always think that you are going to try to leave me. I don't know what I would do without you." He said softly through the door.

On the other side a crying, bloody, and bruised Callie was sitting with her back against the bathroom door. Her nose was still dripping little tiny spots of blood onto her naked body. She was listening to what he was saying, but in her mind she couldn't get the monster that just attacked her out of her head. She was way too scared to go back out there anytime soon.

"Are you listening to me, baby? Come back to bed. I am sorry that I got so angry." He hit the door lightly.

Even the light knock startled her. With the little energy she had left she screamed, "Go away!"

The blond twenty-three year old didn't even bother to argue with her. He just walked away from the door and went back into their bed alone.

The teenager tried to get off of the floor, but all the physical pain hit her at once. It knocked her right back to the floor in agonizing pain. It had felt like she had gotten run over by a car. Every single part of her body hurt. From the top of her scalp from him pulling her down to the floor with her hair to the sole of her feet which she used to kick him off of her the first time.

She couldn't get up. She could barely even move. So she just stayed in the position the entire night. Letting out small groans of pain every now and again. She fell asleep naked on the cold tile bathroom floor.


	4. To My Brother

**A/N: **This is just another filler chapter. So I will probably have the next chapter up tomorrow again. I have individual replies to reviews at the end of this chapter. I hope you enjoy.

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: To My Brother...<br>**

A couple of weeks later, an inpatient Callie was waiting at a park bench for her brother to arrive. Since the big fight, there had been no other fights. Noah had even been way happier and nicer to the her. He would cook sometimes, take her out shopping, and he even lifted the rule for drugs that he previously had. So the young girl was much happier and higher, but she had come to a conclusion the night that she woke up on the bathroom floor. She had to get out. From that one fight she had a total of eighteen bruises from her eyes, to her neck, to her arms, to her rib cage who had the biggest bruises she had ever seen, all the way to her legs. That wasn't including the scarring from the scratches she received. The night played over and over in her head.

"Hi!" A familiar voice spoke from the side of her.

"Hey, bud. Come.." She moved down the bench so that he could sit next to her.

The young teenager sat. He looked at his sister who was wearing sunglasses, a long sleeved T-shirt, and jeans. The outfit was a bit strange considering it was hot outside. "I got the call to meet you here. So here I am."

A few days ago, she had found a pay phone at a motel, not far from the apartment. She was so happy that he answered the unknown number. "Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about how everything ended before I left."

"Really, because I don't." He spoke sternly. "I am over it. I mean you and Brandon obviously can't keep your hands off of each other. The drugs were becoming an everyday thing. I guess those two things were more important than I was."

"Jude, that is not true!" She wanted to take off the sunglasses so badly so that he could see how genuine she was being, but knew that it would just cause him to be even more disappointed in her, if that was even possible. "Brandon and I tried so hard not to get together for you. When we got together you were never supposed to know about it. Not until we figured out how to tell everybody."

"Too bad I am still the only one in the house who knows that you two were even together." He said under his breath.

"If it were up to me you wouldn't even know. I am so sorry that you had to be there. I am sorry you had to witness what you witnessed. It is something that nobody should have had to see. The way we broke up was bad." Her breaths became shorter as her memory began to take her back to the day that her brother had lost all respect for her. It was cut short by his icy words.

"But I did see it. I can't get the memory of him on top of you out of my head! I can't get over the way you two broke up. And I certainly can't get over the way you are coping with drugs and this guy." He looked her into her eyes, even though he couldn't see her pupils. He knew that she could see his. Slowly he turned his back to her. They sat in silence for what felt like hours, but was only a couple of minutes.

"I am leaving town." She finally broke the silence. "I can't stay here anymore."

Her brother turned to her. "I think that is the best thing for everybody, especially for you." He nodded his head side to side. "I miss you. I miss the old you."

A tear ran down her cheek. She knew that he could see it because it went down her chin and onto her jeans. "I have made a lot of mistakes. I have probably made more than woman that are twice my age. Those mistakes have changed me. But I am your sister and I will always be your sister. I will always love you and be here for you."

"I know."

She took her hand and placed it onto his shoulder. "I am going to leave town and get myself together. I promise as soon as I get my own place, a job, and some stability I will call you. Maybe you can come live with me? We can finally live together without worrying about foster care or whether I'll get adopted."

He looked into the black sunglasses that she was wearing. He reached for them and with a little hesitation from her, took them off of her face. It didn't surprise him to see that both of her eyes were bruised. "I would really like that."

They both didn't speak about the wounds that were on her face. She just reached in and hugged him. "I love you, bud. I love you so much."

"I love you too." He rested his head on her shoulder. They stood in that hug for a long time. It felt like an eternity, but it was only a couple of minutes.

"Now, catch me up on everything I missed. I want to hear all about it." She smiled and said as she let go of his embrace.

"Be prepared to be here for a long time. You've missed out on a lot. You know there is always something going on at the Foster house.

They talked for hours. The sun was at it's peak during the beginning of the conversation, but slowly went down as they chatted. There was genuine laughter between the two siblings. As mostly Jude talked about his moments living in his first real home.

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><p><strong>Foster House:<strong>

Meanwhile, Jesus hesitantly walked up to his older brothers room. He was about to knock, but chickened out and began to walk away. He stopped himself and turned back around to knock. For the past ten minutes, he continued to fight with himself whether he should knock or not. Finally, he got up the courage to give a few small knocks.

Brandon answered the door looking a little confused. As much as he loved his younger brother, he could count on one hand how many times he knocked on his door. And every single time he did it wasn't something good. "Hey, what's up?" His voice rang with skepticism.

"Nothing, a younger brother can't come see his older brother without anything being up?" He cocked his head back to pretend to be hurt a little.

"Of course they can, but that isn't why you are here." He opened the door as if to tell him to come in. Then sat on his bed and watched as Jesus walked past him toward his piano.

"Have you been practicing lately? Your piano looks a bit unused." He tried to make small talk, but Brandon wasn't buying it.

"I've been a little busy lately. Look, I know you didn't come into my room to talk about my piano. What's going on?"

"I have something that I have got to tell you." He turned to his older brother with worry in his eyes. "You can't tell anybody!"

"Okay, my lips are sealed. What is it?"

Jesus looked down at his feet. "For the past couple of days..." He looked up at his brother who was staring at him to go on. He rolled his eyes and sighed, "I've been burning."

The teenagers green eyes widened as he figured out what was going on. "You mean burning as in?"

"When I use the bathroom, yes."

An awkward laugh came over him, as he stared at his younger brother. "Do you think that Emma gave it to you?"

The young man nodded his head no. "I have been with other girls other than Emma since we've been dating."

"How many girls?" It really didn't matter, but the question just came out of his mouth.

"I don't know. A lot."

"I'm assuming that you didn't use condoms with all of them." He said crossing his arms and giving his brother a look of dissatisfaction.

"Do you really think I am that stupid? Of course I use condoms with other girls I sleep with. It's just..."

Brandon's green eyes widened as he nudged his brother to keep going.

"It's not like I use oral condoms. I guess maybe one of the girls had something in their mouth or something."

"I'll take you to the clinic to get checked out."

"Thank you so much! I really didn't want to go there by myself." He said with a sigh of relief. "So...I guess that's it. I'll talk to you later."

"Wait a minute. Have you had sex with Emma since you have been burning?" He asked the question that he knew that Jesus didn't want to answer.

"No, and she is really getting suspicious about me turning her down." He lifted his hands up as if he just got caught doing something. "I promise, I would never do that to her."

The oldest Foster nodded his head up and down. "That's cool and everything, but you may have had this thing before and just not showing any symptoms. It is still very possible that you gave it to her, especially if you two aren't wearing condoms."

"I know." He hung his head low at the secret scolding he was getting.

"So, I don't have to tell you that you have to tell her. And soon because sexually transmitted diseases are way harsher on women then men. They might not show any signs at all and become sterile."

"I'm going to tell her." He said with courage. "But Brandon..."

"Yes?"

"On the packet they give out about the persons life at their funeral. Can you please make sure they put 'Jesus Adams-Foster was a brave man'."

Brandon couldn't help but laugh at the joke. "The so called brave man, should've left his thing in his pants. Then he wouldn't be in this mess." He said as he shut his bedroom door behind him.

Jesus walked into his room that he shared with Jude. It was a bit weird that he still wasn't home yet, but he didn't think anything of it. "Maybe little dude got a boyfriend." He thought out loud. His cell phone vibrated showing a text message.

_K - You didn't tell him about you and I. Did you?_

With a deep sigh, he replied back: No. Stop texting me. Delete my number. That night between us never happened.

Across the hall, Lena knocked nicely on her daughters door and walked in.

"You do know the whole point of knocking is to wait until the person on the other side invites you in?" Mariana said to her mother playfully.

"Oh..." Lena chuckled, "well you do know that mom and I pay all the bills in this house. So this room and every room in here is ours. We are allowed to walk in as we please."

The teenager couldn't think of a reply to say to her mother. She just stood up in her bed and watched as she sat on the edge of it.

"So sweetie, I have an idea." She rubbed her daughters leg soothingly. "I couldn't help but notice that you seem to be bored lately."

"What gave you that idea?"

"The constant wallowing and complaining was a big clue." She stopped rubbing her leg. "I was thinking that maybe you should join this club that I helped create in school. The first meeting is tomorrow."

Mariana thought about her long list of clubs that never seemed to work out for her. The theater club and the dance club were her latest two that ended up very badly. "What kind of club is it?"

"It's basically a club for minorities." The older woman finally blurted it out.

"More like social suicide!" She whined. "Who in their right mind would want to join that kind of club."

"Oh, I don't know. People like you and I. Minorities!" She stated back passionately. "It will look really good on your college applications..."

"Do I really have a choice in this?" The teenager muttered. She knew that look that her mother was giving her. It really meant that she wasn't really asking, but telling.

"Not really. I need one of my kids to show up to support the club that I am responsible for bringing to the school. Jesus is still in wrestling and Jude isn't allowed to join any after school activities until he gets his grades back up."

"Fine, I will do this for you. As you so politely pointed out before, it isn't like I have anything better to do." She folded her arms. "But I am totally going to hang this over your head the next time that you and mom need somebody to babysit Emily. Jesus better bring Emma over here to help watch her."

"Sounds like a deal." Lena smiled as she leaned in and kissed her teenage daughter on the forehead. "Goodnight. I love you."

"I love you too, mom." She said as she watched her mom leave her room. 'What did I just get myself into?' The teenager thought to herself as she plopped onto her bed.

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><p><span>Forever-A-Foster<span>: Thank you for loving my story! I love your reviews! Here's your update. I hope you enjoy it!

Fangirl44: I understand! When my friend was going through an abusive relationship, I used to tell her she was stupid for staying all the time. But she was so in love and she had so many issues, just like Callie that it took me a while to understand what goes through the mind of women that gets abused. That's why I thought this was the perfect storyline for Callie. I hope you enjoyed the update!

Sleepoversat3B:  Thank you so much for being a loyal reader and reviewer. There will be more intense moments coming up. I hope you enjoyed the update!

sine13u:  Here's the update! I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing.

Alice: Thank you! Yeah, I think I did a story with a violent scene in it before and was reprimanded for not warning people. So I will always do that from now on. I can't wait until you read the rest of it. I have so much more coming up. Stef and Lena will be getting scenes very soon, in the next two or three chapters. I hope you enjoyed this update!

Guest 7/13: Thank you for liking my writing! It means so much when people say that to me. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter.

JonnorLyfe: First, I want to thank you for being such a loyal reader and reviewer. Of course there is hope for Callie. There will definitely be more Jude. He is such an intricate part of Callie's life, that I'm trying to show how her decisions effect him. Like you saw in this chapter. And there will be Connor/Jude. In the next couple of chapters, but I don't think I will be doing any POV's in this story. I might, but I'm almost done writing and I haven't yet.

Guest 7/14: Thank you for reading and reviewing. I'm glad that you loved it. I hope you enjoyed the update!

Guest 7/16: Yes, Callie is always in a situation. Here's your update! I hoped you enjoyed it! And thank you for reading and reviewing.

**Thank you to everybody that reads this story. I look at the views on my stories just as much as I look at the reviews. I hope you guys are all enjoying so far. I can't wait until you guys read what's coming up next!**


	5. New Beginnings

**A/N: **Wow, you guys are fast readers and reviewers. Since you guys are so fantastic, I will post chapter 6 tomorrow. Individual replies are below. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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><p><strong>Chapter 5: New Beginnings <strong>

The next day after the regular school bell rang, Mariana made her way to the room number that her mom had implanted in her head since she went down for breakfast this morning. It was perfect timing because her mom seemed to almost be finished giving a speech.

"I would like you guys to meet my daughter, Mariana." Lena smiled and introduced her child to the audience filled with different complexions. The club wasn't only for minorities, but for all races who believed in equal rights and equal treatment for all races.

Mariana gave a fake enthusiastic smile and wave to the crowd. Then she walked all the way to the back of the room and took a seat by this African American boy who seemed just as excited to be here as she did.

"Okay, I will now come let the president of this newly established club come up here and speak." She raised her hands to tell the young man to come and say a few words. "I would like to introduce everybody to Dorian Payne."

The boy who just so happened to be sitting next to Mariana stood up and walked to the front of the room. "Hi, as you already know, my name is Dorian Payne. I am going to be the president of this club until I graduate this year. I have some pretty exciting community service opportunities lined up as well as some social events. However, the first order of business I am going to need in order for this club to be successful is an officer board. That will include a vice president, treasurer, and secretary." He looked up at the crowd his brown eyes couldn't help but focus right to Mariana, considering that was the only person he knew. "Umm...if you are interested in any of the positions just let me know."

Nobody raised their hands or seemed as if they were interested. Lena gave a glare to her daughter who was looking down because she knew that was her cue to speak.

The teenager couldn't help but raise her hand because when she finally got the courage to look up, the look her mother was giving her was way scarier than she remembered. "The vice president role sounds fun." She stated with a smile.

The young man couldn't help, but to laugh. "Any other takers?"

"Will the officers have to be in really close contact with one another?" A young girl who seemed to be a freshman raised her hand and asked.

"Yes, we will have other meetings outside of the general meetings if that is what you are asking." He stated confused by the question.

"Then I think I could definitely be a secretary." She smiled as she gave a loving look at her older classmate.

"Okay, we are making some progress." He smiled back. "I think to make it equal, we will need another male on the office crew." His brown eyes scanned the room until hesitantly a hispanic male raised his hand. A bigger smile crossed his face. "Well, that is all I have for today." Dorian looked over to his vice principle and sat back down in his seat next to Mariana.

"I think I would like to start a discussion at this first meeting." Lena retook the spot in the front of the classroom. "You know recently there has been a lot of talk about racial profiling since the George Zimmerman case a couple of years ago..."

As the debate began in the classroom, Mariana couldn't help but glance over at the handsome male that was sitting next to her. His hair was in a dark brown fade, his caramel skin was silky smooth, his jaw bone was so muscular, and his arms were defined too.

Dorian could feel the young girl staring at him, so he glanced at her. But as soon as he glanced she looked away.

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><p><strong>Clinic<strong>

Jesus sat in the waiting room waiting for the doctor to call him in. His brother was sitting next to him looking really uncomfortable. "I owe you one for doing this."

Brandon snapped out of a trance that he was in. "Yeah, well at least it's you and not me." He joked as he looked at these familiar clinic walls. The last time he was here, it was way more nerve racking then this.

The young teenager looked down at his hands. "Maybe you should get one done with me? I mean it doesn't hurt to be extra careful."

The oldest brother laughed at the idea. "Oh no. Unlike you my friend I have only been having both oral and normal sex with one girl. You know the one that I call my girlfriend."

The younger Foster began to become unsettled. "I know that you have, but what if she has been sleeping around with other guys?"

His green eyes shot at his brothers. "Do you know something that I don't know?" A very tense expression came over his face.

Jesus thought about telling his brother that he had in fact slept with his girlfriend, but the timing was so off. They were in the middle of a clinic waiting room. But was there ever something called 'right timing' when it comes to telling your older brother something like that.

"Hello?" Brandon pushed for his brother to answer. "Is there something that you want to tell me?"

The younger Foster opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again. Finally he got the courage to speak. "Kenzie and I slept together." He blurted out to his older brother. "I may have given her what I have and she may have given it to you."

The look on his face was of pure shock. It was as if the words were right on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't let them out.

"That was the real reason I came into your room last night. I wanted to tell you, so you could get checked out too." The silence from Brandon continued. Once you started telling one truth it was as if the rest of it just came spilling out. "I chickened out though. So I thought that I could lure you here and take a test just in case."

"What were you going to tell me if I had the same thing you got?" His voice came back way calmer than he expected.

"I don't know." Jesus dropped his head in shame. "I never meant to do that to you. I love you. It's just that I think I have a problem with sex."

The brunette just shrugged his shoulders. "You are only a year younger than me. If I could get sex all the time, I would. It would sure help me stay out of the bathroom." He joked.

The black haired boy lifted his head with a confused expression on his face. "Why are you not screaming at me? Why aren't you trying to beat me up? Why are you being so nice?"

Brandon shrugged his shoulders. "I am not in love with Kenzie that's for sure." He placed his hand on his little brothers shoulders, "if I tell you something you have to promise to keep this to your grave."

"Of course, man. What is it?" The two brothers looked eye to eye with one another.

"I couple of years ago...I had sex with Dani." It felt good to finally let that off of his chest.

"Your dads ex-girlfriend, Dani?" Jesus' eyes widened in disbelief.

Brandon shook his head yes. "I guess you telling me what you did with Kenzie kind of reminded me of it. I can't be mad at you for doing the same thing I did to my father."

A smile crossed his face. In his mind he knew he was so blessed for having a brother that was so forgiving and understanding. "I guess it's like Chris Brown says, these hoes ain't loyal."

"Some of them aren't. I will definitely be ridding those out of my life. But you..." He hit him in the chest. "...you have a good girl. And you have to tell her the truth. Just like you just told me."

"It's way easier said than done." He said thinking about the way that Emma was going to react to all of the lying and cheating that he was doing. But he knew that if he kept stringing her along it would only end up badly.

"Jesus Adams-Foster." A nurse with a clipboard called from the other side of the room.

The two teenagers stood up and walked over to the nurse.

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><p><strong>Anchor Beach High School<strong>

The four officer members stayed behind for the first ever officer meeting.

"I guess we can go around and introduce ourselves. I will also need all of your contact information so we can communicate without having to meet in person." Dorian stated as he passed a sheet of paper around.

"I don't think I need an introduction, but I'll go first." Mariana stood up and waved to the three other people in the room. "My name is Mariana Adams-Foster, and as you know one of my moms is Mrs. Adams-Foster. I have two sisters and three brothers. One of my brothers is actually my twin. My family is pretty complex, but again, I'm sure you all know about since my mom is vice principal."

"We do..." The Hispanic male said as he stood up. "My name is Jose. I moved here from Mexico when I was really little. I am fluent in both English and Spanish. I have four brothers and two sisters. I am a sophomore here." There weren't any more facts that he could think about so he sat down. "Oh, and I am really good with numbers. I am actually thinking about going to college for accounting, so I am excited about this position."

The youngest African American girl stood up with a smile on her face. "My name is Capria. I am a freshman here. I am an only child. This is my first actual high school club being apart of, so I can't wait to get started." As she spoke her eyes wandered to Emmett after the end of almost every sentence. "That's all I have to say."

Dorian stood up next, his six foot one frame towered over the table as he looked down at his office board. "I already gave my brief introduction in class. I just wanted to say thank you to all of you guys. I will definitely be e-mailing all of you guys with papers that will specify what all your jobs entail. I will also text you guys when the next officer meeting is." He took the piece of paper and waved goodbye.

"Mariana...wait up."

She stood still as he walked over to her, more like towering over her. "We need to have a conversation." He opened the classroom door to let her walk out ahead of him.

"What's up?"

"I am going to need you to scan these forms and e-mail them to the rest of the officers." He handed her the forms.

Mariana stopped walking and looked down at the papers that he just handed her. "Didn't you just say that you were going to do this?"

Dorian turned to look at her, "if you would look down and read the paper. I think it explains it all. Thank you!" He called out as he turned back around and strutted down the hallway.

She looked down at the sheet of paper. The first sentence of responsibilities read: 'When the president is unable to satisfy certain commitments, you are next in line to fulfill them.' Her eyes looked up from the paper, down the hallway she watched as the double doors leading outside closed slowly. "This could've been a bad idea."

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><p><strong>Clinic<strong>

Jesus looked down at the prescriptions that the doctor had just written for him. "Gonnorhea.." He said shaking his head.

His older brother reached over and patted him on the back. "Listen, take the medicine and you will be all cured. Be happy that it is something that you can cure."

"I know." He looked out the window in the car. "At least you don't have anything. I would feel so bad if I..."

"Let's not talk about this ever again." Brandon cut him off. "I am going to break up with Kenzie, you are going to take your medicine, and tell Emma to go get tested. Then we will never have to think about this again."

"Yeah..." His brother kept telling him he had to tell her, his conscious was telling him he had to tell her, and his body told him he had to tell her. Yet, his heart told him that if he told her, that would definitely be the end of their relationship. And he selfishly, didn't want to let a girl like her go. "Let's go to a pharmacy far away from the house. The last thing I need is another morning after pill incident."

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><p><span>Forever-A-Foster:<span> Thank you. I literally look forward to reading your review every single time I post. You are a loyal reader and reviewer and I would like to thank you for that.

WiseGirl1993: Thank you for being a loyal reader and reviewer. I have to admit, your reviews are one of my favorites. You always detail what you liked and disliked about each chapter. It makes me happy to know that you are really reading, not just skimming through. Lol! I am sure your in the majority for hating Noah.

DeenatheDiva: Thank you for reviewing! Here's the update and I hope that you enjoyed it. There will be nice Brandon and Callie scenes in my story in the next couple of chapters. I am a Brallie fan. And he will help her, but not in a typical way. You'll just have to read and find out what I mean by that.

JonnorLyfe: Thank you for thinking my story is great and thank you for reviewing! The next chapter will show what is happening with Callie. I wanted to take a break from that intense storyline and focus on the other siblings in the house, but it will be back in full swing next chapter.

Sleepoversat3B: Thank you! I'm trying my hardest to stay true to the characters that ABC created. The next chapter will definitely answer the question of her getting out. I hope you enjoyed the update.

Fangirl44: The next chapter will answer the question on if she gets out the relationship. Thank you for reviewing and I hope you enjoy the update!

Lacorra: She definitely is. Many people don't really understand just how dangerous domestic violence is and I'm glad that you do. I completely agree with you to a certain extent. In the eyes of the law when you turn 18 you are an adult and you can basically do anything, but drink and break the laws. I also think you need guidance at that age, but not as much. When I was 18 I flew thousands of miles away from home so that I could go away to college. My parents weren't able to guide me through my very tough freshman year at school. They were just too far. That's not the case with Callie though. In the next couple of chapters, it should become clear to you guys why she isn't reaching out for help. Lol! I think your in the majority when it comes to hating Noah. Thank you for loving my story and reviewing. I love your reviews. I hope you enjoyed the update.

Guest: Thank you for thinking my story is great and reviewing. I'm not going to spoil anything, but you will see in the next chapter if she gets help from moms or not.

MagdaKrolock: Thank you for loving it and thank you for reviewing my story! I think the next two to three chapters will be very pleasing to you then. I hope you enjoyed this one though!

SKC: Thank you for loving it. Thank you for reading and reviewing it. Here is your update and I hope that you enjoyed it.


	6. Boy Troubles

**A/N: **I am so sorry that I lied and told you guys that I would put this chapter up on Monday, because of that the next chapter will definitely be up by tomorrow at noon. Individual reviews are at the bottom.

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><p><strong>Chapter 6: Boy Troubles <strong>

"Here...have some of this." Daphne placed a cup of coffee down in front of her friend.

"Thanks." The dyed black haired teenager began to drink from the mug. The months had just rolled by and now it was about to be December.

"Are you sure about this?" The young mother took a seat across the table.

"I guess I have too." Her eyes looked up at her friends. They looked deeply concerned. "I have been stealing money for months trying to get ready for this move. If I don't leave now, I will loose all my courage."

"I'm going to miss you." She smiled. To think that this used to be a girl that she despised. Their first encounter was a fist fight, but this brave girl sitting across from her was the best friend she ever had.

"I'm going to miss you too." Callie smiled back. "But I have to go and find myself. I need to go somewhere that nobody knows me and I can rebuild." The prospect of leaving was frightening, however the possibilities for her life were endless if she left.

"I know. It's just hard out there for a young girl by herself. This world is dark." She was about to go on about the things that could go wrong, but then she stopped. "Stuff that you have already been through."

"Exactly." She sipped from the hot cup of coffee. "If I go to Seattle and do the same things that I am doing in San Francisco, then I'm still in the same place I am now. But if I go and do everything that I want to do, then I am doing better."

"Are you sure Noah won't follow you there?" Daphne finally asked the question that's been on her mind since she found out of her friends plan to leave.

She paused as she thought about the question, then spoke, "nothing is ever one hundred percent sure, but I have tracked all my footsteps. I took a little money at a time, so that he wouldn't get suspicious. I went to the bus station and paid cash for the bus ticket to Seattle. I will have to find a motel to stay at when I first get there, but I have taken enough money to survive for a couple of months. Hopefully, it won't take me long to find a job..."

"Everything is a paper trail, right?"

"Yeah. I don't own a cell phone, debit card, or credit card." The coffee was beginning to get cold, so she pushed it to the side. "I have a purse filled with my ID, birth certificate, social security card, and cash."

Daphne looked down at her purse that was filled with wads of cash. "As soon as you get off that bus and find a motel. Please find a pay phone and call me?"

"I will." The teenager looked up at the clock. "I have to go, Noah will be getting home soon. I have to make it there before he does."

"Okay." They stood up. "Tasha! Come say goodbye to Callie!"

The little girl ran out of the room. "Goodbye Auntie Callie."

"Bye sweetie. Be good for your mommy." She smiled as she leaned down to hug her. A spot in her heart began to hurt. It left as soon as the little girl ran back into the room to play with her toys.

"Bye, girl. Good luck." Daphne went over to her best friend and hugged her. "Be safe." She whispered into her ear.

An emotional Callie almost began to tear up. "I will." She gave her friend one last hopeful look before walking out of her apartment, down the steps, and into the awaiting cab.

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><p><strong>Anchor Beach High School:<strong>

"Meeting dismissed." Mariana said to all the members of the 'Students for Minority Rights' also known as SMR club. In the past couple of months the club had grown quite a bit. However, there were a few students who were against the club completely. It really didn't matter though, because for once in her life, she felt like she belonged. These people understood what it was like to feel different. The way she felt almost everyday, especially since her family was so unconventional.

There was one person missing. That person would of course be the president of this club.

The feisty teenager grabbed a piece of paper and walked out of the classroom. By fate, she bumped into Jesus on his way to the gym to work out. "Tell moms that I will be home a little late tonight."

He was about to ask why, but decided that he didn't care. "Okay."

Once she left the building she took a bus, cab, and a trolley to the address written on the piece of paper that she had. The houses were nice. It was actually a very wealthy part of the neighborhood. The young girl took a deep breath as she walked up the steps and knocked on the door.

An older woman answered the door with a welcoming smile. "Hello."

The young girl looked up at the number on the house, then the number on the paper. "I'm sorry, I must have the wrong address." This couldn't be who she was looking for, the older lady was white. "I'm looking for Dorian Payne, do you know where I could find him?"

"Oh, that nice young man. He comes here to check up on me sometimes." She smiled at the mention of his name. "He doesn't live here. He lives on the other side of town."

"Can I ask you his address? Because this is the one that he gave to the school." She knew she could possibly be coming off creepy, so she thought about a good excuse as to why she would need his address. "I am supposed to do this project with him for school. I need to get his opinion on it."

"Well in that case, I think I have it in here somewhere. Let me just go get it. Would you like to come in?"

Without answering she stepped into the house. It was definitely a flashback to the fifties. Nothing had been redone since then.

"You know my old mind can't memorize things like I used too." She laughed about her age. She went into the kitchen and got a piece of paper out of the cookie pot. "Would you like any coffee or tea?"

"No thank you."

The old woman walked over to her and handed her the paper. "He gave me this paper with his address on it, just in case I needed him for anything. I haven't needed it. So you can have it." She said nicely.

"Thank you so much." She took the piece of paper from the lady. "May I ask, how do you know Dorian?"

"I met him on the bus a long time ago. It had to be like ten years now. He was this seven year old boy that was so grown." She laughed as she thought about that day. "He was wearing these shoes with holes in them. So I told him if he came over to my house and cleaned out my attic, he could have some shoes that my grandson left here. That young boy was more than glad too. Ever since then, he comes over here when I need things done or even just to check on me sometimes. In return I let him use my address for school and watch his sister sometimes. Nice family. Have you met them?"

"No, I haven't. Thank you again." She went over to the old lady and hugged her. It just seemed like the right thing to do. She was so nice and fragile.

"No problem, dear. Come back anytime. Maybe you can come with Dorian sometime?"

"That would be nice. Bye." The teenager left the house and looked down at the piece of paper. She had never seen an address like this before. She placed it in her phone and saw that it was close to downtown. "I'll find it."

After three bus rides, two cab rides, and a trolley ride she ended up in the vicinity of the area. "This is bad." She was referring to the neighborhood it was in. The sun was slowly dimming and she wanted to get out of this area as soon as possible. She looked at the address that the old lady had given her, and then up at the apartment complexes. "Or maybe not." This was where she was supposed to be. She entered the complex behind somebody with a key, took the elevator to the third floor, and made her way to the apartment number. Slowly but surely she knocked.

It didn't take long for Dorian to answer with a baby girl in his arms. He looked as if he were about to say something then closed his mouth in shock. "Mariana? What are you doing here?"

"I...I..." With all of the adventures that she had gone through to get here. She almost completely forgot why she was there. "I came here to tell you that you can't make me do everything regarding SMR! If you can't handle the responsibility of being president, then you should just quit."

He was about to answer back when the baby in his arms began to fuss. "Come in." His voice said with annoyance as he walked into the apartment to try and calm the baby down.

Mariana walked into the apartment and closed the door behind her. She thought that her house was crowded, but this was unimaginable. It was obvious that more than one person slept in the living room. There was a dresser and dirty clothes in there. Baby toys as well as kid toys were everywhere. She was scared to even follow him into the kitchen, but she did.

"Can you hand me a diaper?" He looked at her quickly, then back over to the baby.

She got a diaper from the dinning room table and handed it to him. Finally she had to ask the question that was on her mind, "is that your baby?"

He laughed at her. "No, it's my niece."

For some odd reason a good feeling came over her to know that. Just as she was about to continue to ask him more questions a little girl came out of the room.

"D! I am hungry!" She whined.

"Nya! Don't be rude. Say hi to the young lady you see in front of you." He said back to her statement.

"Hi, my name is Nya."

"Mariana, nice to meet you."

"You can have one cookie. Don't spoil your appetite before dinner." He responded to his little sister. He picked his niece up, who was a lot happier. He then gave his attention to Mariana. "Let me put her down and then we can talk."

She just nodded her head okay. In her mind, this wasn't how it was supposed to go. She was supposed to come over to his house that he lived in and let him know what a pretentious jerk he was being for making her do all of the work in a club that he was supposed to be president of. Then she was going to leave making him feel like the idiot. For some reason she was feeling like the idiot right now.

A couple of minutes later he walked up to her. "So you found out my little secret, are you happy?"

"What secret?"

"I don't live in the school district. I am not middle class, hell I don't even think I am poor." He was about to keep going, but she stopped him.

"I didn't come here to find out any secrets about you. I came here to let you know that you are supposed to be the president of SMR, not me."

"Sometimes I have to come home early. My mom works over nights, but when she gets asked to come in early I have to come home to watch my niece and little sister."

"That explains why you aren't at most of the meetings, but if you knew that then why did you even become president in the first place?"

"The same reason you became vice president, your mom." Dorian said with a stern look on his face. "I am the only black male in that school that isn't an athlete. She told me that being president would look good on my transcript."

She was about to argue that was absurd. However, when she did think about it, all the other black males in her school were on the football or basketball team. "I didn't know..."

"Of course you didn't. Nobody knows."

"Why haven't you told anybody? Maybe somebody can come help."

"I am not anybodies charity project. I don't want people like you coming over here to help and feeling fulfilled because you helped the poor black guy out. Thanks, but no thanks."

"Hey! That is not what we do." Her voice began to raise.

"Really? When was the last time you have been in the hood? I know either never or once to do a community service event. You rich stuck up kids at Anchor Beach don't know the first thing about the struggle." His words became more and more powerful.

"I am not a stuck up Anchor Beach kid. I know about the struggle. My mom is a crack head and lord knows who my father is." Mariana was about to go on about her rough childhood when she saw that he wasn't being at all phased by it.

"My mother works twelve hours straight to put food on the table. I have two older brothers. One is in jail and the other is dead. That baby in there will never know her mother because drugs got to her and my brother doesn't get out of jail until she is thirteen. My little sister's father is wanted for a laundry list of federal offenses, if the feds haven't picked him up by now then he is still on the run. The last time I saw my father was when I was five." He stepped closer to her and looked her deep into her eyes. "You got to leave the struggle. You were adopted into a good home. You get to have your quinceanera's, cars, fancy clothes, food on the table every night, and a big house to lay your head. I live this struggle every day."

His words definitely humbled her. "I am sorry. I didn't know."

"If you want the president's position you can have it. I knew I had way to much on my plate when your mother suckered me into it anyway." He looked passed her. "I think you should leave. It's getting dark and these streets at night, aren't nice to a girl like you."

She turned to leave. When her hand touched the doorknob, she stopped. "Don't worry. I won't take the title of president from you." Her head turned to face him. "And I won't tell anybody about this." With that she left.

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><p><strong>Noah's Apartment:<strong>

Callie looked at her watch as she made her way to the apartment. There was still enough time before Noah was due home to start dinner. She opened the door to her apartment and shockingly found her boyfriend sitting at the table. "What are you doing home so early?"

There was no answer.

As she walked closer to him she noticed that there were papers on the table, the notebook they used to track their drug profit, and a gun. "What are you doing?"

"I bumped into Ray on my way to work today." He said calmly. A little too calmly for her liking. "I asked him if he had gotten another drug dealer because his name hasn't been put in this notebook for a long time." He took the gun off of the table and placed it into his hands. "So you can imagine my surprise when he told me that he was still a very loyal customer. Coming here two to three times a day."

Her heart dropped as she figured out that he knew she had been taking money from him. In her mind she knew this was the end. If only he had found out a few short hours later, she could be on that bus in Seattle, safe. "He is a liar! Do you know how much crack that guy smokes?"

"You don't think that entered my mind? So, I did a drug inventory. I am missing a whole lotta drugs. I know I lifted the drug rule for you, but if you were to consume as much drugs as I'm missing daily, then you would have definitely overdosed by now." He slid his finger into the trigger of the gun. "I am going to ask you one time and one time only. Have you been stealing money from me?"

She hesitated to answer. It was a trick question. If she said yes then he would shoot her and if she said no, then he wouldn't believe her and shoot her. "Please, don't kill me." Was all that she could say.

He lifted the gun and aimed. "Wrong answer."

Her legs began to run as he shot the gun. The bullet just barely missed her. She ran into the bedroom and tried to find something to call 9-1-1. The only phone in the apartment belonged to him though.

"You have five seconds to open this door before I ring shots through there!" He screamed from the other side.

Callie knew he wasn't lying, so she did what any person in her situation would have done. She ran into the closet. As she made it there he busted down the door. She quickly kneeled down and found the shoebox that she had planted there a few months prior. In her mind she thought it would probably come to this, so she stole one of his guns. Just in case he ever found out that she was planning on leaving and never coming back.

"Come out here and take your death like a woman!" He yelled.

Her heart was pounding. It would only be a matter of time that somebody in the apartment complex would dial 9-1-1 reporting shots fired. But she knew it would take too long for the police officers to get here. He would surely have killed her by then. She looked up at the ceiling and did a secret prayer for forgiveness.

"Five..." He began to count down the seconds she had left of her life. He knew exactly how this would play out. It was a suicide attempt by a poor teenage girl that he had tried to help. But it was too late to help her. He had the bleach and was ready to fix the crime scene to make it look just like that.

All in one motion, she kicked the closet door down, held her breath, closed her eyes, and pulled the trigger on the gun. 'BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM..." She stopped pulling the trigger once she heard his body plop to the floor.

Callie opened her eyes and saw a bloodied Noah laying on the floor. She ran over to him and saw that he was still breathing. She had only hit three of the many shots that she had fired. Quickly, she took his cellphone from out of his jean pocket. Everything after that was a complete blur. All she can remember is crying into the phone to an operator, a bunch of lights around her, and then all of a sudden she was in the police station.

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><p><span>Wise Girl1993: <span>Thank you! I am really trying to capture the characters that ABC family created, but give them more of a realistic side. Personally, sometimes I feel as though the writers get a bit sloppy when it comes to their writing. So this story is a way for me to fix that in my mind. Lol! I hope you enjoyed the update.

Guest: Thank you! I hope you enjoyed the update. And I hope you understand why Dorian was using her.

Forever-A-Foster: Thank you! I hope you enjoyed the update!

MsPurchase: This story is a way for me to make up in my mind for the writers lazy writing. Lol! I feel as though the Brandon/Jesus brotherhood should be way stronger than it is on on the show. I don't find the moms, mostly Lena, knowing about every girl Jesus has sex with, realistic. In real life teenage boys don't discuss that sort of thing with their parents, especially when they have an older brother who can really help them with impending manhood. But I guess they are supposed to be an 'unconventional' family. No, I haven't said what Callie did to Brandon yet. I have foreshadowed it a bit in the story though, if you pay very close attention. I am currently writing those scenes in as flashbacks right now and let me tell you, as I continue to write chapters..the more intense they become.

MagdaKrolock: The next chapter has the moms in it and I believe it sets the tone for the rest of this story. I can't wait for you to read it and give your honest opinion to me.

rosslynchR5loverforever: Braillie is definitely in this story! As the flashbacks start there will be cute scenes about them and obviously what Callie did to make Brandon so upset. I am a fan of those two! Personally, I watch the show just for them. Lol! But I hate how the writers constantly have Brandon professing his love for Callie. I thought it was way to rushed, forced, and frankly lazy writing. The two of them have such chemistry. This story really picks up after this chapter.

JonnorLyfe: The next chapter will let you know exactly what happens with Callie. I was so busy through the week that I didn't even watch this current episode for the 'Fosters' until yesterday! It was a good episode though. I'm glad they finally gave Lena a storyline about herself, Brandon/Callie had a scene that forced them to talk about their past relationship, and that Jude spoke!

LovelyBraillie1: Thank you for loving my story and reviewing. I normally don't write angst stories, but as I was writing it just came out like this. I can see you're a Braillie fan like I am, so I'm sure you'll be happy with an upcoming chapter I wrote in particular. Lol! My friend who was in an abusive relationship used to always say that's the reason she stayed. It was because she was in 'love'. Yet, Callie has another reason why she won't just go back to live with the Fosters. Everything will start to be pieced together slowly, but surely in the next few chapters.


	7. The After Effect

**A/N: **So here's the follow up of last chapters cliffhanger. I hope you guys enjoy it. This chapter begins the flashbacks. Whatever is in italics was in the past. There are no individual replies at the bottom this time.

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><p><strong>Chapter 7: The After Effect<strong>

RING! RING! RING! Stef got up and turned to look at the clock. For a second, she thought it was time to get up for work already, but it was the middle of the night. She picked up her phone without looking to see who was calling. "Hello?" She breathed into the receiver.

"Stef, it's Mike. I'm sorry that I woke you up so late. But Callie was just booked into the system."

The words rang through her head and woke her up instantly. "What?" She somewhat screamed.

Lena woke up from all the commotion happening next to her. She could tell that something was definitely wrong, because her wife looked as if she was in complete shock.

"Yeah, she has been here for a while. They say she isn't really talking. I think you should get over here now."

"I'm on my way." She hung up and jumped out of bed.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Lena asked as she got out of bed too.

"It's Callie. She's in jail." She looked over at her wife who seemed to be just as in shock as she was.

"For what?"

"I don't know. All I know is we better get down there." The blond grabbed a shirt and handed it to her wife.

Even though it was a serious moment, Lena smiled. It wasn't like Stef to let her in on matters like this. It felt good that they were doing this together.

"I'll go wake up Brandon and tell him he's in charge until we get back." Stef buttoned up her jeans and walked out of their room, down the hall, and walked into the room quietly.

Brandon immediately stood up in a panic.

"It's just me, baby. Don't worry." He heard his moms familiar voice through the darkness.

"Mom? What's going on?" He looked over to the clock that was on his nightstand. It was the middle of the night.

"Your mom and I just got a call. We have to go somewhere. I promise that I will sit down and explain it to you and your siblings once we've figured out how serious it is. Until then I am going to need you to make sure that everybody is okay, especially Emily."

"Okay, mom." He said as he was about to lay back down.

"I'm going to put the baby monitor in your room. Thanks, for being so dependable." She took her hand and rubbed it along his bed hair.

He mumbled something incoherently. Then turned his back to go back to sleep.

Stef left the room and was met in the hallway by her wife.

"Here." Lena handed her the baby monitor.

The blond kissed her wife. "Thanks." She walked back into her sons room and placed the baby monitor by his bed.

A couple of minutes later they were in the car headed toward the station. There was no music, nobody on the road, and no talking happening. They were both consumed in their own thoughts.

"This is our fault." Lena broke the silence as she looked out the window. "Callie needed us and we gave up on her. We gave up just like everybody else in her life did."

Normally, this would be the time that Stef told her wife that she was overreacting. But she wasn't...

_Lena sat in her bed with her newborn daughter in her arms. The rest of her clan was busy doing their homework. Everybody but her two oldest kids. Brandon was at work as a cashier at a supermarket and Callie was hanging out with her friends._

_Stef walked in from a long day of work. She took off her belt, walked over to her wife, kissed her, and their newborn. "What's the matter sweetie?" She saw the look of hurt in the eyes of the woman she loved._

_"I don't know what we are going to do about Callie." She said with tears threatening to spill from her face. "She is blatantly disrespecting us! She continues to go out all types of the night, come home drunk, date that older man that I really don't like, and sneaking out even though she is supposed to be grounded..." Lena stood up and handed a very tiny Emily to her wife. She walked out of the room, then came back with something in her hand. "I found this in her pocket when I was doing laundry."_

_It didn't take long for the police officer to recognize what her wife was holding. It was a bag of weed. "That's it Lena! I have been saying this since she first snuck out of this house. We have to kick her out! No matter what we do she continues to not listen."_

_Lena nodded her head yes. She had been fighting with her wife to let that young girl stay in their house. Callie had been kicked out of her dads house five months ago, and up until two months ago she has been unbearable to deal with. "I agree."_

_"If she is going to bring this filth into the house then she can't stay here. We have a baby in this house. Our other teenagers are going to think that they can get away with this stuff. I am a police officer and you are a teacher! Those are government jobs. We will be fired if they ever found out there were illegal drugs in this house." Stef couldn't believe that the sweet sixteen year old girl she allowed to come into her home two years ago would do something like this._

_"I know." That was all the curly-haired woman could say to her wife. The two had exhausted every single option to get Callie some help, but something had changed about her. She wasn't the fresh-faced Callie they had fallen in love with. She was a completely different person. And no matter how hard they tried to get through to her, she just continued to push them away._

_"I guess...we will have to tell her together." The blond looked at her wife who was noticeably emotional about this._

_"Yeah."_

_Later on that night, Callie walked into the house. It surprised her to see that her moms were still up. They were in the living-room on the couch. She tried to make her way up the stairs, when they called her into the living room. She hesitantly walked in._

_Stef looked up at the young girl. She was noticeably intoxicated. By her physical appearance she could tell that it was definitely marijuana and alcohol. "Sit."_

_The teenager did as she was told and sat._

_"It's one o'clock in the morning." Lena stated. " It's pass your curfew hours. And you aren't even supposed to be out because you are grounded from the last time you did this."_

_"I know." Was all that she said back._

_"When will you start to take our rules serious?" Stef asked her with a very serious expression on her face._

_"I don't know."_

_"I was doing laundry today." Lena said as she looked over at her wife. She could tell that her partner was becoming more and more angry. "I found something in your pocket." She placed the bag of weed on the table._

_"You had no right going through my things!" Callie yelled out._

_"Keep your voice down, young lady. We have a baby sleeping upstairs!" Stef said sternly. "Mom was not going through your things. She was doing laundry and it fell out. And you have no right to raise your voice at us!"_

_Normally, Lena would tell her wife to settle down, but this was what Callie needed. She needed tough love. So, she sat quietly while she let her wife handle the situation._

_"We have tried everything Callie. We have tried to be patient with you because we know you haven't had the easiest life..."_

_"That's an understatement." She said under her breath._

_"But we can't do this anymore. You are taking advantage of the fact that we love you and we are nice people. But if you want to stay in our house, you are going to have to follow our rules, and you continue to disobey them. So, mom and I have talked it over. You have to leave."_

_It was as if it was dejavu all over again. She had just been kicked out of her father's house five months ago. That was of no fault of her own though, her stepmother hated her. "Fine. I don't want to live here anyway. I am so sick of pretending to be apart of this family. I am not adopted. You are not my parents. And I can't live like this anymore!" The brunette stood up._

_"You can stay here tonight. Get your things packed. But I need you out by tomorrow morning." Stef replied back to the angry and heavily intoxicated teenager._

_"I will be back to get my stuff later." She said to the women that tried to be her parents. She walked out of the house with her cell phone that they had bought her in her hand. She dialed the familiar number of her new boyfriend._

_"Hello?" Noah answered on the other line._

_The reality of being kicked out of another home had just began to sink in. Her breaths became heavy on the phone. "They just kicked me out. Do you think I can stay with you for a little while?"_

_"Sure. I'll come pick you up now. Where are you?" He asked genuinely concerned about her._

_"Walking down my block..."_

Once Stef and Lena noticed that they had pushed Callie into the arms of a man she had no business being with, they tried to get her to come back home. She flat out refused to live with them again. Her reasoning to them was that their rules were way to strict and she wanted freedom now that she was eighteen. The three had come to an understanding that the teenager was still apart of the family, and she was allowed over whenever she wanted to come.

They both came back to the present, as they pulled into the station. Stef walked in with all of her coworkers staring at her, but at this present time she didn't care what they thought about her. She wanted to know where her daughter was.

Mike walked up to Stef and Lena. He gave them a look of agony. "They are booking Callie for first degree murder. She killed a guy named Noah."

Lena let out a painful shriek.

Her wife turned around and pulled her into a soothing hug. It was as if she were numb to what Mike had just told them. She tried to whisper words of encouragement into her wife's ear, but it wasn't working.

One of Stef's coworkers came up and took Lena away, so that Mike could fill Stef in on everything that was going on at the station.

"Apparently, it was self defense. He was trying to kill her, but she killed him before he could kill her. They still have forensics down at the crime scene to piece together the story and of course Noah's body is being taken into autopsy. Callie didn't really incriminate herself. She asked for a lawyer pretty early on in the interrogation room.

"Have they handcuffed her yet?" Stef asked trying to soak in everything that was being said to her. Yeah, Callie had changed over the past few months. But she definitely was not a murderer.

"No."

"Can I go see her?" She asked hopeful.

"It's not my case. You are going to have to go talk to the Frank. He was the first responder."

"Okay, thanks for everything." She placed her hand on her ex-husbands shoulder. Then walked off to find her other coworker.

About an half an hour later, Stef walked into the interrogation room that they were holding Callie in. "Hey..." She said softly as she sat next to her daughter.

A distraught Callie looked up at her mother. "I didn't mean to kill him." She cried as she nodded her head no. "I didn't mean too..." She continued to repeat.

Stef noticed the blood all over Callie. She also noticed that there were bruises and scares on different places of her body. "I know you didn't sweetie. We are going to get you one of the best lawyers in the country. We are going to fight this! You are going to be freed. And you are going to live the life that I know that you can live."

The teenager cried harshly. She wanted to believe that. She really did, but every single time it seemed that her life was about to turn around for the best. Something happened that knocked her down a peg. "I am a murderer." Her cries began to become more intense.

Stef pulled her in for a hug. "We are going to get through this." She kissed her on the top of her head. "You are going to be set free. You just have to believe in the justice system."

* * *

><p><strong>Foster House:<strong>

A very tired couple walked into their house. Their entire clan was in the kitchen doing what they normally did in the morning. As parents, it almost pained them to know that they had to break this devastating news to them.

"Can everybody meet your mother and I in the kitchen for a family meeting?" Lena said with a forced smile on her face.

Within a couple of minutes all of the teenagers and Emily were walking into the living room. Jude was holding Emily in his arms.

"I think everybody should sit." Stef said as she looked at all of her children. She sat next to her wife and placed her hand on top of Lena's for support.

"Your mom and I have something to tell you." Lena began...

"You aren't having another baby, are you?" Jesus asked jumping to the gun a little bit. It was fun having all of these siblings, but there was absolutely no more room for anybody else in this bungalow.

"No, that's not it, sweetie." Stef replied. She then looked over at her wife as if to tell her to continue.

"It's about Callie." She took a deep breath and looked up at her kids. "It turns out Noah was abusing her. They got into an argument last night. Guns were drown. She is fine. But..."

"Callie got arrested for murdering Noah last night." She finished for her wife.

There was complete silence in the room. Only the babbling of Emily, who was on the verge of being able to start speaking soon, was in the room.

Brandon felt a tingle in his heart. He was absolutely furious at Callie for everything, but he wouldn't wish jail on his worse enemy. In the back of his mind, he couldn't help but fell a tad bit responsible for all of this. Part of him felt like he should tell his moms the reason that Callie was acting out recently, but he wasn't ready to open that wound.

Jude couldn't help but feel anger all over again. Why does his sister always do this to him? He forgives her for making one mistake and then she goes out and makes another one. Every single time he feels like her mistakes can't get worse, they do. And he is tired of it. This time he was completely through with her.

Mariana was just in shock. She knew that Callie was acting a bit strange, but murder?That meant that she was going to be in jail for life.

Jesus was probably the least close to Callie. They never really had any kind of relationship, but that was still his sister in his head and heart. He wanted her to succeed just like everyone else in the family. What was going to happen now?

"Mom and I have been talking." Lena continued. "We want to get Callie a really good lawyer. The problem is, they are really expensive. We have money saved up for Mariana and Jesus' college fund. We were wondering if it would be okay, if we took some out for the lawyer?"

"Of course." Mariana said without hesitation. She looked over at her brother.

"Yeah, she's family." Jesus replied looking at the rest of his family.

"Okay." Stef said as she looked at her children. "I know this is a shock to all of you. I understand that it might take us some time to get used to the idea that Callie is in jail. But I have faith that we can win this case."

They all just looked at their mothers who seemed to be really optimistic about what's happening.

"I also understand if you guys might need a little time off of school. It's going to be on the local news station. We are going to get through this together, as a family." Lena said to her children. "You know we are always here if you need to talk to us."

Brandon looked up at his naive parents. They really had no clue why Callie was acting out. He had tried to tell them so many times, but every time he thought about the way they would react, it made him scared. What happened between him and Callie was worse then what he had done with Dani. He was the first person to stand up, walk over, and wrap both of his moms into a hug.

Mariana and Jesus soon followed after him to join into the group hug.

Jude looked down at the baby that he was still holding. At least he had a family that he could rely on for support after his sister messed up this time. That was something that he had never had before. So, he handed Emily to Lena, and joined in on the family hug.

They were all silent, but they were all thinking the same thing. This family moment just didn't feel right without Callie present.


	8. Trying to Heal

**A/N: **I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! The next chapter will be up tomorrow. I think the next chapter will be very fulfilling for Braillie fans :)

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><p><strong>Chapter 8: Trying to Heal<strong>

Callie laid on the hard bed that was in the jail cell. Her eyes were looking up at the ceiling. The incident continued to play over and over again in her head. Yes, Noah wasn't the best boyfriend, but she did love him. She never meant to hurt him.

"Miss Jacobs." A correctional officer who was walking up to her cell called out to her. "You have a visitor."

The teenager jumped down from her bed. Held her hands straight in front of her, so that the officer could place the handcuffs on her. Then followed him out to the area where visitors were. It was just like you saw in the movies, there was a big glass wall, a phone so that they could speak to one another. Part of her hoped it was Jude, she had tried to call him numerous times since she had been locked up, but he was ignoring her. It pained her to think that this was the final mistake that could damage their relationship. They had been through so much together.

It wasn't her brother though, it was somebody worse then him, her biological father. She sat in the seat that was across from him. She gave him a look of disgust, while rolling her eyes, she reached for the phone to hear what he had to say.

"I had to come here myself and see if you were okay." Robert said worried about his oldest daughter.

The last thing she needed was for him to come here with fake enthusiasm about her. "Does your wife know your here?"

He looked up at his daughter who was still upset about the last fight that they had. "No, she doesn't."

"I think you should tell her. I bet she would be so relieved to find out that the bastard daughter that you had is exactly where she thought I'd be!" Her voice raised with every single word.

"Honey..."

"No! Do not call me that! Do not come in here and act like everything between us is okay, because it isn't. You chose your wife over me. Just like you chose your family over my mother. You are a spineless excuse for a human-being and I meant it when I said that I never want to see you again." The teenager hung up the phone on her end and called the guard to escort her back to her cell.

The older man hung up his phone. He watched as his daughter walked away from him in an orange jailsuit and handcuffs. As a father he couldn't help but feel like he was responsible for this...

_Robert walked into his house exhausted from the long day of work that he had just finished. He wasn't really excited about being home though, ever since his oldest daughter moved in with his wife and youngest daughter, it wasn't exactly peaceful. There was a lot of estrogen and emotions in the house._

_"I can't do this anymore!" His wife came running up to him as soon as he walked inside of the front door. "I can not deal with a child that is not mine."_

_He looked at his wife with defeat. Everything seemed to be going good in the beginning, but Callie wasn't exactly fond of the way that the wealthy lived. It was new for him and his family. "What happened?"_

_"She was late to her tennis practice again today Robert. That wasn't even the worse part. I went up to check on Sofia after dinner and she was in there showing our daughter how to dance! Not like a slow dane, but a hip winding, simulating sexual acts dance! She is undoing all of the years that I put in to make Sofia a nice respectful girl." His wife complained._

_"That is the way that the kids dance these days, sweetie." He said to his wife as he walked into the massive kitchen to get some leftovers._

_"I can't do this anymore." She repeated while nodding her head no and following her husband into the kitchen. "I understand that you feel somewhat responsible for her hard life, but you had no clue that she was even alive until a couple of months ago. It is too late to fix her! She is clearly trailer trash!"_

_"Hey! Do not speak about my daughter like that!" He turned to face his wife. "She is just a teenager who enjoys herself! I for one think that is what Sofia and this entire family needs." His eyes were stern with her._

_His wife placed her hands up in defeat. "I didn't want it to have to come to this. I really wanted you to see what I see in that girl. But you are so wrapped up in some teenage love or lust that you had with her mother. And I feel like you are cheating on me!"_

_"What?"_

_"Oh, come on! All you two ever talk about his her mother. You make it seem like if you had known her mother was pregnant, you would have never married me." She placed her finger to herself. "I can't take it anymore. You have to choose. It's either me or her. And I advise that you think long and hard about that decision, because I am up to my ropes end."_

_As Mrs. Quinn was walking out of the kitchen, Callie came walking down the steps. The house was huge, but the open concept of the first floor made it very easy for people on the second floor to hear what was going on clearly. "What have I done to you?" The teenager asked as she stepped closer to her stepmother._

_"Excuse me?" She asked stepping back from the young lady._

_"Ever since I've been here all I have tried to do was be nice to you. I cooked when you asked me too. I cleaned when you asked me too. I have never raised my voice to you, but all you can ever seem to do is scream at me. What is it?"_

_Robert heard his oldest daughter voice and quickly walked out of the kitchen to find the two women facing one another. He knew this was going to be bad._

_"The fact that you can even come up to me and ask me that kind of question is what is the matter with you. Where I come from children stay in a child's place. I get that you were raised differently-"_

_"Trailer trash? Isn't that the way you put it to my father?" She asked looking at the older lady. She had held her tongue back for too long. It was as if she were cinderella in this house. Her father was gone most of the time and her evil step mother was the one running everything while he was away. And to say that she ran them unfairly would be an understatement._

_"Now you are listening in on grown people's conversation..." She turned to look at her husband. "Do you see what I mean about the respectable thing?"_

_Callie looked up at her father who seemed to be at a crossroad. "I just want to know why she hates me so much?"_

_"I don't think you should speak to your stepmom like that..." He began to look at his daughter. He could see her demeanor change. There was a look of hurt in her eyes._

_"Are you really going to take her side?" She asked completely astonished by this. "Do you know the way that she treats me when you aren't here?"_

_"I am not choosing a side, I am just saying you aren't an adult, yet. She is right. You should stay in a child's place. I will handle this."_

_"No, you won't. You have been saying that since I first moved in here. It keeps getting worse." She looked at her stepmother, then back up at her father. "She is right about something. You are going to have to choose. Because, obviously we both can't stay inside this house."_

_Robert looked at his wife and thought about all of the years he had with her. Then he looked at his teenage daughter that he barely even knew. "If I have to choose...then I would have to choose my wife..."_

* * *

><p><strong>Foster House:<br>**

Stef hung up the phone and walked into the kitchen where her wife was sitting feeding their baby. The entire family decided to take off from school and work for a couple of days so they could deal with their emotions about what happened to Callie. The murder of a drug dealer by his teenage girlfriend had become headlining news in San Diego.

"I just got off the phone with Robert Quinn." Stef said as she stood over her wife who was placing a spoon full of baby food into Emily's mouth.

"Really? What did he say?"

"He said that he would pay for her lawyer. So it seems as though we can keep the money we have been saving for Mariana and Jesus' college fund." She smiled about the good news, but still there was a long process ahead before there would be a victory.

Lena smiled and continued to feed her daughter. She had checked up on all of her children, but they all seemed to be doing fine. "Do you think we have started to become lazy when it comes to parenting?" She finally asked as she looked up at her wife.

"No, what would make you say that?" Stef sat down beside her.

"There was a time when we knew everything that happened in this house. Our children would come to us and tell us things. We even knew about their sex lives, something most parents are completely in the dark about." She looked up at her wife. "They stopped telling us stuff Stef. We let Callie stay with an abusive ass for months."

The blond sat down next to her wife. "We did the best that we could do. We begged her to come home, but she didn't want too. We couldn't force her because she is eighteen. Maybe our communication has been off with our kids for a little bit, but we are only two people. You had a difficult pregnancy with Emily, then we had a new born, and I had to take on some extra shifts because feeding all of us isn't an easy task."

"I know, but I just feel like they are hiding things from us now. I don't like it one bit."

Stef scrunched up her nose and let out a small chuckle. "They are teenagers. They are entitled to have their share of secrets. It's not like they want to bother us with all of their problems. They are growing up! Do you want them to call us when they are thirty, like 'Hey moms...I just had sex with my wife.'"

The brown-skinned woman laughed at the thought. "You're right."

"Plus, since we don't have to worry about all of their drama all of the time..." Stef moved her hand to her wife's thigh, "we can have more alone time to ourselves."

"Hey, not with Emily here." She said playfully back.

Just then Jude walked down the steps. He walked over to his moms, "is it okay if I go to the movies with Connor?"

The two women looked at each other, then back at their son. "Yeah, sure." Stef said a bit skeptical about this.

"Are you sure your okay enough to go out?" Lena asked the question that she knew they were both thinking.

"I am fine. I just want to get out of this house." He said nonchalantly. "Do you have like twenty dollars?"

Stef got up and got some money out of her wallet.

"Do you need a ride to the movies?" Lena asked as she watched her wife hand him the bill.

"No, Connor's older sister is going to take us. Thanks." He smiled at his moms and was about to walk out the door when he heard...

"Be back before dinner!" Being called after him.

"Okay." The young man walked out of the house and secretly walked down the block to meet up with his friend.

"I'm sorry to hear about your sister." Connor stated as he gave his friend a hug.

"Yeah..."

"Are you sure that you want to do this?" Connor asked looking up at his friend. "I mean we can really go to a movie if you want. I think there is a trolley that can take us there."

"No, I want to do this. I just want to try and see why everybody does this." Jude said as he looked up at his friend. There was a moment when they were just staring at one another.

"Okay, let's go then. Bobby is waiting for us." The two young men walked a couple of blocks down. They entered this house that looked as though it was supposed to be in Los Angeles, not San Diego. Once they entered there friend was already rolling a blunt filled with marijuana.

"There is no turning back once we do this." Connor said as he looked over to his friend.

"Good." He smiled.

An hour later a high Jude and Connor walked to a nearby school, hopped a fence, and were playing on the playground.

"I see why people do this now." Connor stated as he looked around. Everything seemed so euphoric. "It is actually a little fun."

"Yeah..." Jude watched as his friend swung on the swings. He just sat on the concrete and looked up at the sky. "I just wanted to see why my sister got so hooked on doing this stuff. I get it now."

The brunette boy stopped swinging and sat next to his friend. This was the first time that he had opened up about his sister, since the arrest.

"It's like when your high, nothing really matters. It doesn't matter that my biological sister and adopted brother slept together behind everyones back, or that she is on trial for murder and can be behind jail for the rest of my life..."

"I didn't know your sister and Brandon slept together." He looked over at his friend who seemed to be more out of it then he was, but that could be because he was high too.

"Oh, they were sleeping with one another. It happened more than once." He looked at the boy who he felt the closest too. "I guess I never told you that I found them having sex before too."

Connors eyes widened in disbelief. "No! Why didn't you ever tell me that?"

"Because it is this big secret that they didn't want anybody to know." He began to laugh. The marijuana definitely made him feel happier about what he knew and saw.

"Is that why your sister left the house?"

The real reason as to why his sister left the house popped into his mind. "I'd rather not talk about that." He looked over to his friend. "You know, you are the only person that has never let me down in my life." Jude placed his hand on Connors leg.

They both stared intensely into the others' eyes.

Slowly, Connor leaned his head toward his friend. And a soft feeling was on his lips. It was only for a second and he was so high off of the marijuana that he almost felt like it was a dream.

Jude walked into the house coming down from the high that he had almost two hours ago. His entire family was inside the house having dinner.

"I'm glad you made it to dinner on time." Stef said with a smile. "How was the movie?"

"It was good." The teenager said as he walked inside of the kitchen. He was actually really excited to see food. He sat down to eat, when the adverse effects of the weed began to hit.

"Are you okay, honey?" Lena asked as she saw her sons eyes begin to widen.

"Yeah, I am fine. I just think I need to go to sleep." He stepped down from the table. "Thanks for dinner."

Brandon looked at his brother. He knew what the downside of weed looked like, and he sure knew that was what was happening to him.

A couple of minutes later, Brandon walked into the room that his brothers' shared. "Do you really think getting high is a good idea?" His voice was thick with emotion. "Did you not just see what drugs did to your sister!"

Jude stood up. The high was wearing off. "Don't you dare come in here and lecture me about what I do. Especially, when it comes to my sister!"

"I get it, okay. I get that you are going through a lot of shit. We all are! But the last thing this family needs is another drugged out teenager!"

"It was my first time. It was only for fun." He said back. "Don't act like you never tried weed before."

Brandon placed his hands on his hips. "I have, but I sure as hell wasn't hurting when I did it. That's the difference between me and what happened with Callie. And right now you are hurting, just like she was hurting when she started experimenting with weed."

Something snapped inside of his head when he heard Brandon say his sisters name. This anger arose in his body and before he could control it; he lunged at his older brother.

The oldest foster defended himself without hurting his younger brother.

"You are apart of the reason she started doing drugs! You have no right to ever say her name again!" He screamed as he began to punch the guy. It wasn't all of Brandon's fault, but since he wasn't able to hit his sister, his older brother was the next best thing. "I hate you! I hate her! I hate you both!"

The dark brunette continued to let his brother hit him, until he heard the screams turn into cries. He wrapped his arms around the young boy and held him.

While still crying he said, "I know she doesn't do these things to hurt me..." He muffled into his brothers shirt. "I just want her to be okay. I just want us to be able to a family."

A sharp pain filled Brandon's heart. "I know, buddy. I know."


	9. The Good Times

**A/N: **I must admit, I'm pretty disappointed in the reviews that I received from the last chapter, but I see that the number of hits the chapter was the same. So, I have decided to post this chapter up anyway. I am sad to say that I will be busy for the next week or two because it's the last week of the summer session for me, so I have finals. Then, I am flying back home and I start working. So, the updates won't be as frequent as they normally are. The good thing is that I have finished the next two chapters, which will finally explain why Callie began to use drugs. There is also more Brallie scenes and Jonnor scenes. I will TRY to post the next chapter on Saturday. I can't wait for you guys to read it. I think that chapter completely changes the pace of the story, but anyway...I hope you guys enjoy. Please review if you can!

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><p><strong>Chapter 9: The Good Times<strong>

The days seemed to go by so slow while she was incarcerated. It had only been a week, but it felt like an eternity. The only time she was able to leave this small cell was an hour a day to go outside. Her court hearing to see if she would be granted bail was coming and she still hasn't met this great lawyer that Stef continued to tell her about. The worst part of it all was the only thing that seemed to entertain her for the sixteen hours that she was awake, was the thought of her own horrible past. There were small times when a smile would cross her face, mostly when she thought about the great times she had with Brandon. They weren't always in a fight.

_Callie had her head stuck in her locker, staring at this SAT prep book that was given to her by her English teacher. It was the beginning of senior year and mostly everyone in her class had already taken this exam._

_"You'll do fine." His voice said coming up from behind her. "You are smarter than you think."_

_She closed her locker and turned to face her boyfriend. "Yeah, well, you don't know my stepmother. She is convinced that if I don't score anything higher than a 2100, then I am destined to go to a community college. And Quinn's do not go to community college's."_

_He laughed at the thought. "That is almost a perfect score. A 1400 is an average score."_

_"I know, but you don't understand the mindset of these rich people. If it isn't an Ivy league school, then they all might as well be community college's." Her brown eyes looked into his green ones. They had only been officially dating for a couple of months. It was this big secret that only Daphne knew about._

_He wanted to lean in and give her a kiss so badly, but they had decided to keep this a secret. Callie still wasn't officially adopted because she decided to go live with her father, but she was still apart of his family. Every one of his siblings still thought about her as a sister, so he decided it would be easier if they kept it to themselves for a while. She was more than happy to agree to that._

_"I have a free house for a couple of hours. My dads at work and my stepmom will be taking Sofia to ballet class. Do you want to come over?" She began to walk toward her class and he followed right beside her._

_"I'd love too." He gave her a smile. "I have to go, my class is the other way."_

_After school, Brandon drove Callie to her new home. It wasn't the first time that he had done this, but the place still amazed him. It was really weird to see how the other half lived. He followed her into the house and up to her massive bedroom. It was the size of the master bedroom in the bungalow. "I bet you love having this space to yourself."_

_She dropped her backpack onto the floor. "I don't know. I am so used to having to be in small space or sharing a space with somebody that it is different. Sometimes I wake up and think that I have to be dreaming." The brunette sat on her large bed. "What are the odds that I would have a rich father?"_

_"I guess they are pretty great considering that you do." He chuckled. Hesitantly, he sat down on the bed next to her. They started dating the day that she moved in with her father, which was two month ago. But it was still awkward because they spent more time pretending that they weren't dating, then actually being a couple._

_Sometimes in her mind she would wonder if she did the right thing by getting back together with Brandon. There were definitely more con's then pro's about the relationship. Daphne doesn't even think what she is doing is a good idea._

_"Can I kiss you?" He broke her train of thought._

_"Brandon, you are my boyfriend. You don't ever have to ask that question." She laughed at him._

_He smiled slightly, then placed his lips on hers, lightly. He had wanted to do that for weeks now._

_The teenage girl deepened the kiss. There tongues were crashing into each other like waves on the beach. She could feel his hands begin to move up and down her back._

_He could feel himself becoming excited and pulled away from the kiss. "I think we should slow down." His breaths were short from the intense kissing they were doing._

_"Brandon, I don't want you to stop." She said as she looked him deeply into his eyes. "I want you. I have always wanted you."_

_He smiled and kissed her on her nose. "I want you in that way too. You have no idea how much." Then he got off the bed. "But I want our first time to be special."_

_Callie smiled at him._

_"I know that your first time was horrible." They both knew he was referring to the rape. "I don't know how it was with Wyatt and frankly I don't care. I just think you deserve better than us having rushed sex in your room and me leaving you to go home afterward. I want to be able to hold you. I want to be able to wake up next to you the next morning."_

_"Wyatt and I never had sex." She admitted to him. From the corner of her eye, she could see a half smile come across his face. Her head lifted to look at him fully, "And we aren't even supposed to be dating." She laughed at the thought. "Don't you think somebody would notice if we went missing for hours."_

_He held out his hand._

_She placed hers into his and was pulled closer to him._

_"I don't want to plan our first time, but I also don't want to rush it." Their bodies were touching one another. He whispered into her ear, "I am not going anywhere. We have all the time in the world."_

"Jacobs...there is somebody here to see you." A different correctional officer walked up to her cell and unlocked it.

She wondered who it could be. The Fosters hadn't really come to see her. Jude wasn't speaking to her. Brandon hated her. She couldn't even see Mariana or Jesus coming to jail. Lena was probably busy with the Emily. And Stef saw her almost everyday once she would get off of her shift. The teenager was a bit confused as she was led into a room that looked like the interrogation room that she was first placed at when she was arrested.

A woman stood up in a business suit. She smiled and let out her hand to the young prisoner. "Hi, my name is Layla Brown."

The teenager gave her a look and shook her hand. "Callie Jacobs."

"I know who you are." She placed her hand toward the seat across from her as she sat. Then watched as the young inmate sat across from her. "I am the lawyer your father hired to represent your case."

"At least my father is good for something." She said as she looked at her new lawyer.

The lady was confused by the statement, but didn't harp on it. "I am not a psychologist, so that will have to be settled between you, a therapist, and your father. I am here to get you out of this big mess that you got yourself into."

"And how do you suppose that you are going to do that?" She leaned back into her chair. "I killed him. I admitted to killing him. I am guilty of the crime."

"Yes, but you do have a very good self-defense case." The African American woman placed a folder on the table. "I have been going over the evidence for a couple of hours. This is a pretty open and shut case."

The teenager looked at the folder that had papers spilling out of it. "What do you mean?"

"At the crime scene they found two guns, one with your DNA on it and one with his, they found a bullet from his gun by the front door, they found a typed 'suicide note' in a nightstand and they traced the deleted document back to his work computer, and we have dozens of witnesses stating they saw bruises on you. We even have the pictures of the bruises and scars you had from the night this happened. You are not doomed. It is a pretty winnable case, especially since you have me as a lawyer." While she was speaking she was going through the papers in the folder. "There is only one problem."

Callie looked up at her new lawyer. She actually had some hope after hearing all of the evidence that was collected at the crime scene. "What is that?"

The older woman stopped in the middle of the folder. She took the last half of the papers out and threw them in front of her young client. "Your past."

Her brown eyes looked down at the papers that were thrown in front of her. She placed her handcuffed hands on the table and began to go through them. It was a paper trail of all of the arrests she had prior to actually going to jail, her juvie stints, the case that she lost against Liam, and there was even the stint that she did at 'Girls United'. "What does this have to do with the case against me now?"

"The defense is going to paint you as a monster when we go to trial. From what I have heard and seen on paper, you've had a pretty eventful young life." She got out of her chair and sat on the table next to her client. "The person you believe to be your father kills your mother when you are young, you go from foster home to foster home, you sleep with a foster brother, you vandalize one of your foster father's cars, you date another foster brother, you run away from a good foster home, get placed back into juvie for stealing, move in with your biological father and get kicked out of his place, move back in with the Foster's, start to do drugs, get kicked out of their house, and then you kill the boyfriend that you stayed with." She took a deep breath, "does that sound about right?"

The teenager rolled her eyes. "It's right, but there were reasons for all of that! The system doesn't allow you stay in a foster home for a long period of time. Liam raped me! That guy deserved to get his car smashed he was an ass. I loved Brandon and I might still love him. I ran away because I wasn't allowed to be with him. I stole because there wasn't a way for me to live at sixteen on my own. My stepmother hated me and she didn't want me at my father's house. The drugs were just to numb the pain. I was rebelling when I got kicked out of the Stef and Lena's. And Noah tried to kill me!" She tried to defend all of her actions.

The African American woman gave a sympathetic look to the teenager. "Those might all be very good reasons for everything that you did, but all it takes is one juror. One juror has to think that you are the common problem in all of those instances and you can be in jail for the rest of your life."

"My past has nothing to do with what happened with Noah." The teenager said looking up at her lawyer, getting really upset.

"Yes, it does. Your past has everything to do with this." She placed her hand on the teenagers shoulder. "I am going to have to put you up on the stand to defend yourself. It will also help if you tell the jury your story. What it was really like to date Noah."

She nodded her head up and down yes. "What other witnesses do you have?"

"Right now all we have is the forensic analysis, a neighbor who said that they would hear the fights between you guys, your father so that he can defend you against being kicked out of his house, and I was thinking about two more."

Her brown eyes looked into her lawyers mysteriously. "Who?"

"I think it would be a good idea if we put your brother and Brandon on the stand."

She let out a dry laugh. "My brother isn't even speaking to me. And Brandon would probably incriminate me more than he would help me at this point. We aren't exactly on good terms."

"I know. I have spoken to him." The lawyer sat down. "He said that he would testify for you." She gave the young girl a hopeful smile. "It takes a while to get a murder trial started. So, we have time to figure out who will eventually go and take the stand for you. What we should focus on right now is the bail hearing. That is going to be next week."

The young girl nodded her head and thought about everything that was being told to her. It was all still so surreal that her life was in the very hands of people that she wasn't on the best terms with and complete strangers. Deep down she couldn't help but feel loved. These people never gave up on her.

* * *

><p><strong>Anchor Beach<strong>

With everything that was going on in Jude's life, he was so glad to have a friend like Connor. It was refreshing to feel like everything didn't revolve around his relationship with his sister. As he walked through the hallway, there were very mixed emotions going on from his peers. Some of them would come up to him and say they were sorry for what happened with his sister. The others would just look at him and whisper in the hallway behind his back.

"You and your family are arguably the most popular people in the city of San Diego right now." Connor said as he came up to his friend.

The topic of what his sister did was the last thing he wanted to talk about. The two boys hadn't exactly talked about the kiss they shared the other day. "At least people are talking about my sister and not the fact that I like to wear nail polish this time." He looked up at his friend to see his reaction.

A tense feeling overcame the young man's body. "Um...yeah." The brunette's head sunk and his heart felt heavy. In his mind he had no clue what that kiss meant. Everything in his head was so jumbled. Growing up, he was always taught that liking the same sex wasn't normal and a oneway ticket to hell. He liked Jude a lot, but it wasn't as if he didn't like women too. It was just all too much for him to handle.

"You've been pretty quiet ever since that day." Jude finally brought up the intimate moment between them. "Every single time I bring it up you change the subject or have to go."

Connor stood in the middle of the hallway as he watched his friend go to his locker. "Listen, Jude." He looked down at his feet. "What happened between us wasn't a big deal. We were both obviously not ourselves. I think we should just forget about it."

There was a moment of silence, the young boy was trying to seem like he didn't care about what happened either. Once he collected his composure, he faced the guy that he had really started to fall for. "You're right. It was probably just a mistake."

A sigh of relief washed over him, followed by a smile. "I'm so glad that you feel that way." He placed his hand on his shoulder. "For a second I thought you were going to want to date me or something."

That was what he thought, but he wasn't about to let his friend know that. "That would be completely ridiculous. Plus, if it didn't work out, we could possibly lose a friendship. I value what we have."

Connor's smile got even wider. "I value it too." The warning bell rang, letting them know they only had two minutes before the actual bell would ring. "I have to get to my locker. I'll see you in third period." He turned around and somewhat jogged to his locker.

Jude didn't say anything back. A weird feeling that he had never felt before started to come over him. It was an aching feeling in his chest. He had thought for sure that kiss meant something between them. It did for him. He didn't go around kissing random people. He felt something in that short period that their lips were touching one another.

Meanwhile, down the hallway, Mariana wasn't taking the attention that she was getting from the seniors really well. It was weird going form Jesus' twin sister to 'hey isn't that the girl whose sister killed that guy'.

"Hey, I have been meaning to call you." Dorian said as he walked up to the young woman.

"I haven't been really taking any phone calls." She said as she looked up into his brown eyes. "Don't take it personal. My family and I just decided we shouldn't focus on the outside world for a couple of days."

"I understand." He walked with her all the way to her locker. "I just wanted to let you know; I understand what it's like to have a sibling in jail. It isn't easy and I'm here if you want to talk."

She looked up at the guy who was towering over. He was the only person in her whole class who had took the time to come up to her and say that. It made her feel special. "Thanks."

"And at least for the next couple of days, I will try and do all of my duties for SMR." He said playfully.

The blackhead laughed at his joke. There was silence between them as they both looked into each other's eyes.

"I've got to get to class. If I'm late again Mrs. Henderson will give me detention." His eyes never left hers as he was speaking. "I'll see you later?"

"Of course you will." She said smiling. Her head turned as she watched the handsome man run down the hallway.

* * *

><p><strong>Jail<strong>

Callie looked out the small window they allowed in the cell. There were stars filling the dark sky, which indicated that it was in fact night. What time at night, there was no way of finding out. After her conversation with her lawyer there was a a new found hope that was not present before. Maybe she wouldn't have to spend the rest of her life doing this. As her boredom began to overcome her, her mind wandered to another great moment in her life...

_It was almost the middle of the semester of her Senior year. She was actually excited to be going on a ski trip with her class. The teenager definitely needed a break from the tense relationship in her fathers' house. The bus ride from San Diego to Big Bear Ski resorts was an exhausting four hour drive. It might have been more manageable if they allowed boys and girls on the same bus, but they hadn't. And she had no girl friends at the school that she had been attending since her sophomore year._

_Every single girl was called off the bus by their name. Once her name was finally called she grabbed her carryon and walked off of the bus. It was new to her to see all of the snow and mountains. She had lived in San Diego her whole life and there definitely wasn't anything like this around there._

_A couple of minutes later, all the girls were off the bus, and they were being assigned to their rooms. Of course all the girls bunked together and all of the boys bunked together. She was one of the first people to get her room number and gladly walked inside of the cabin themed room. After such a long bus ride, she couldn't wait to stretch her legs out on a bed._

_As soon as she walked into her room, she place her stuff down on her bed, and then plopped on to it. There was only five minutes of peace and quiet before her roommate walked in through the doors. It was clear to her that laying down was not apart of her plans for this ski trip._

_"We are here!" The teenager screamed as she walked through the doors. Once she saw who she was rooming with she rolled her eyes. She had no clue who Callie Jacobs was personally, but she did have a reputation for being a party-pooper around school. "Are you seriously sleeping right now?"_

_Callie turned in her bed and saw who her roommate was. Maybe this wasn't going to be a peaceful weekend after all. "You aren't tired from that bus ride?"_

_The young girl shrugged her shoulders. "I am, but I can sleep anytime." She placed her suitcase on her bed. "I am definitely going to hit up those mountains." She started to undress and place her ski stuff off. "If I were you I wouldn't wait up for me. I am totally going to sleep over my boyfriends cabin for these two nights."_

_"What am I supposed to tell them when they come check in at night?" Callie asked as she watched this girl get dressed._

_"I'll be here for the check in. But as soon as they check, I am leaving." She turned to her roommate and smiled. "I'll see you when I see you."_

_The teenager thought about what a great opportunity it would be to see her boyfriend. She picked up her cell phone and texted him._

_That night after the chaperone's came and checked in, her roommate did exactly what she said she was going to do. Callie never turned her head to watch her, but heard the door close lightly. She grabbed her phone and before she could send out the text, there was a small knock on the door. She walked over and opened it to find her boyfriend standing before her eyes. Without even thinking she jumped on top of him._

_"I missed you too." He laughed as he carried her inside of the room and shut the door behind them._

_"I feel like we haven't seen each other in so long!" She said still attached to him. They saw each other in school all of the time, but they never were allowed to kiss, hug, or hold hands._

_"I know." He wrapped his arms around her to strengthen the hug. She smelled like the 'sweet pea' perfume from bath and bodyworks. That was her favorite perfume._

_Callie finally got off of him and traded the hugging with kisses. They were always texting , talking on the phone, or having conversations with one another. So talking wasn't an option. All she wanted was to do the things she never got to do out in the open._

_As the kissed intensified, Brandon used his strength to pick her up and placed her on the bed. His body was slowly grinding between her thighs. His hands were rubbing up and down her spine. He could feel her hands going through his hair. His body began to become excited, so he pulled away like he always did._

_She could feel his presence missing on top of her, so she opened her eyes to find his green eyes staring at her. She stood up to face him and said, "Don't stop."_

_"Are you sure?" He loved and respected this girl so much. The last thing he wanted was for sex to ruin what they had._

_She placed her hands on his cheek. "I have never said this to you before. You are always the one saying it to me and everybody else." She inched her head closer to his. "Brandon, I love you. I have always loved you. And you loved me even when I was too scared to admit the way I felt about you." She turned her head as if to kiss him and pulled away. "I want to make love to you."_

_It felt good to hear her finally say those words to him. "I love you too, but you already know that." He joked._

_Oh, boy did she know that he loved her. The way that he made her feel was so powerful. He made her feel like she was important, like she could do anything, and most of all safe. There was never a time in her life when a man made her feel like this. And in this moment, she was about to reward him for all of that._

_The next morning, the two teenagers woke up, naked next to each other. Her head was on his bare chest and his arm was protectively around her body._

_When she woke up she looked up to find him looking down at her. "Were you watching me sleep?"_

_He smiled at her. "You just looked so beautiful and peaceful. I couldn't help myself."_

_As any teenager knows, there was still a bit of doubt that passed through her mind when he said that type of stuff about her. But she wasn't going to let him know that. "Thanks."_

_"How was your sleep?" He asked not wanting to loose this moment that they were having between them. He wanted to wake up like this every single day of his life. With the girl of his dreams in his arms._

_"It was perfect." She rose up to kiss him on the lips. "I dreamt about you."_

Before she knew it in real life her eyes were beginning to close. The hard bed was starting to feel less hard and more inviting. In her mind, she wished that she could go back to that weekend in the cabin. She couldn't relive the past. But just like that night, she dreamt about him.


	10. The Confession Part 1

**A/N: **Sorry for the hiatus, but to be fair I warned you guys. The next chapter should be up on Sunday, since that's the only day I have off. I hope you enjoy it :) Please read and review.** WARNING: Graphic sex scene**

**Chapter 10: The Confession Part 1**

Brandon looked around the room that he grew up in and his chest began to hurt. It was becoming so surreal to him that in less than twenty-four hours he'd be leaving to go away to the university of his dreams. This wasn't a vacation or a short trip. He would not be returning to San Diego until the Christmas holidays.

There was a small knock on his door. Stef and Lena both walking in while holding hands. The two woman began to regain the passion in their relationship again. It was becoming clear to them that soon the only two children they would have left in this bungalow would be Jude and Emily. Maybe Callie if she was able to get cleared of the charges to come home.

"We just wanted to check up on you and make sure that you weren't forgetting anything." Lena spoke as she let go of her wife's hand and walked over to look at the suitcase her oldest son was still packing. The suitcase was open on the bed.

"I think I have everything I need." He said as he looked down at his other mom. He could see his biological mom staring at him from the corner of his eye.

"You know you are always leaving something behind." Stef said as she looked at her son who was growing up so fast. She couldn't help but think about the time the doctor placed his small body on to her chest after she just finished giving birth to him. Where had the time gone?

"You are never going to let me live down that one time." He laughed as he thought about the time that he went to go visit his grandma for the summer and he forgot to pack boxers.

She laughed as she thought about when her young son called her mortified. Telling her that his grandma had gone in the store and told everybody what had happened. As the moment passed her heart began to hurt. This was going to be one of the toughest things she would have to do as a mother. "Mom and I will be down there in a week to help you get settled."

"I know you will." The teenager could see the hurt look on his mothers' eyes. So he went up to her and gave her a hug and a kiss on the head. "You know no matter what you are going to be my mom."

She gave him a hug back and let a tear run down her cheek. "I know, but it doesn't hurt any less. You'll understand one day when you have your own kids."

"Not any time soon!" Lena spoke while she stopped packing his bag.

He looked over at his other mother and waved for her to come join the hug. "You'll always be my mom too."

Lena hugged and kissed him. "I know sweetie. And I know that you will go to this school and become one of the greatest pianist of this time."

* * *

><p><strong>Jail<strong>

Callie was still incarcerated. The judge had decided in her bail hearing that she was too much of a flight risk because she never stayed at one place for a long time. As well as the fact that her father was rich enough to get her out of the country and live on the run for the rest of her life. So, until her actual trial that wasn't set until the summer, she was stuck in this godforsaken jail.

Jude still wasn't speaking to her. Mariana and Jesus came to visit her a couple of times, but it was a bit awkward. She had no clue where she stood with Brandon, but the last time they spoke, he still hated her. Lena came a couple of times to show her how much Emily was growing up. She was starting to walk and say a few words the last time she saw the baby. And of course Stef would check up on her whenever she had time.

"So...I know I told you that I am not your therapist the first time that we met." The lawyer looked at the teenager. It was the beginning stages of practicing for the trial. It dawned on Layla that this case might need to be fought way harder than she had first anticipated. It's never a good sign when you loose the bail hearing. It normally means the trial can replicate that same verdict. "But I am going to need to know everything about your past. And the truth about it."

The teenagers brown eyes looked up at her lawyers. The only thing that was keeping her entertained was the thoughts of her past in that jail cell, but she didn't want anybody to know the real reason her life spiraled out of control a couple months into living with the Fosters.

"Because I am putting you up on that stand. I will give you an example as to how this can go." She got up out of her seat. "Pretend that I am the defense attorney. You are on stand at trial."

"Okay."

Her demeanor changed instinctively. "So, Miss Jacobs. How did you meet, my client, Mr. Willis?"

"We met at a party."

The lawyer crossed her arms and smiled. "A party?" She walked around the room. "Did he come up to you or did you go up to him?"

"He came up to me. I don't normally walk up to guys."

"How did that night end?" The lawyer looked at the teenaged girl in the eye.

"It ended with us being together." She said vaguely.

"Were you guys together intimately that night?" The lawyer shot back harshly.

"Yes..."

"So, the first night that you met him you were sleeping with him. Don't you think sleeping with a guy the first night would make any guy think that his girlfriend would cheat on him? Were drugs apart of this night? Wasn't there a curfew that was instilled by your Foster moms to be home at a certain time? You couldn't have been home in time for that if you were obviously in a compromising position with this man that you just met." She started to throw questions left and right.

All the questions were beginning to get to Callie who just stood there in silence. She had no clue how to answer any of those questions without coming off as the bad guy.

"You see how I turned a couple of simple questions around to attack you?" Ms. Brown said as she switched back to being her lawyer. "That is what the defense is going to do. If we were on trial right now, that one moment is all we would need to seal your fate in this system." She sat across from her client. "That moment could change a jurors mind about you. We might have the forensic advantage, but they have the emotional one. And some jurors think emotionally while others think logically. We need to appeal to both types of jurors."

The teenager nodded her head yes. She had no clue just how complicated it was to go on trial. She thought for sure that if she just went on trial and told the truth, the jury would find her not guilty. But as she continued to practice for trial, it became clear it could go either way. "What do you want to know?"

"Why?" The lawyer finally asked the question that had been going through her mind since she got this case. "Your life seemed pretty put together once you moved back in with the Fosters. Why did you start doing these drugs? Why didn't you just move back in with these wonderful women who love you, when Noah started beating you? What happened?"

The teenage girl looked down at her hands, which were in handcuffs. "Brandon happened."

"I thought you two stopped seeing each other a long time ago?" The African American woman said as she looked at the teenager who was obviously keeping something in.

She let out a small chuckle and lifted her head. "We dated for a little bit while I was living with my father." This was the first time she admitted this to anybody. Until this the only other person who knew about her and Brandon was Jude. And it wasn't as if they told him.

"Okay, so I'm assuming you guys broke up? Is that the reason he hates you?"

"We broke up around the time that I moved back in with Stef and Lena." She stated as she thought about that weird time in her life. "The break up was because of the fact that he got into Juilliard. The pressure of him moving so far away for such a long period of time made our relationship crack, so we broke up."

"Is this why the drugs started to become an issue?" The lawyer continued to ponder what on earth would make a nice girl like her go down such a dark path in life.

"Not exactly. We broke up, but we continued to be friends with benefits. Every once and a while whenever we could we would still have sex." She looked up at her lawyer. "That's how my brother found out about us..."

_It was almost the end of their Senior year. Brandon was in his room practicing for the upcoming orientation that he was about to do at Juilliard. There was no pressure because he was already accepted, but he still didn't want to be the weakest link out of the few students that had been accepted._

_Callie knocked on the door loud enough so that he could hear it. She had on jean shorts, a tank top, and some sandals. The weather in San Diego was unbelievably hot for it to be the beginning of May. She could hear the music from the piano stop and a couple of moments later he was standing over her. All her thoughts were almost lost as she looked into his green eyes._

_A smile came over his face as he saw who it was. "Come in." He opened the door to let his 'sister', inside of the room. He couldn't help but admire her long legs and curves as she stood in the middle of his bedroom._

_"I got your text message." The message basically told her to meet him in his room at a certain time. It turned out that every other person in the house was out. There weren't many times like this._

_He walked up to her and was about to kiss her on the lips when she placed her finger up to stop him._

_"How much time do we have to ourselves?" She asked as she looked at the boy who made her heart skip a beat. They had no clue what the relationship was classified as, at this point, but they were young and having fun._

_"An hour or two. Why?" He asked looking down at her._

_"I just feel so dirty and sweaty." That was an understatement. The heat was extreme. There were traces of sweat forming under her arms._

_Brandon got this look in his eyes as a smirk crossed his face. "I have an idea..."_

_Callie looked at him with wonder and then began to catch on to what he was thinking. "You are so bad."_

_Meanwhile, Jude walked in downstairs from hanging out with Connor after school. They were supposed to stay later, but his father called him home. Without anybody else to hang out with, he took the next available after school bus home. "Hello?" He walked into the kitchen as he called out for somebody. It was a rare moment when one of his moms weren't in the kitchen greeting them with an afternoon snack._

_He walked over to refrigerator and looked at the note that was on the door from moms. It read: Momma and I are going to a lamaze class until late tonight. There is money on the counter to order pizza for dinner. -Love, Stef._

_The young boy shrugged his shoulders and took a cookie from the jar that Lena had made a couple of days ago for their afternoon snack. He began to walk up the stairs when he heard noises coming from the bathroom. They were beginning to scare him. The door was open and steam was coming out of the room into the hallway. He reached for his cell phone just in case it was something where he had to call somebody. He walked over to the bathroom and began to call out, but nobody was answering him. Slowly he walked inside of the bathroom and was mortified by what he was seeing, that he dropped his cell phone on the ground._

_The noise of the cell phone dropping, caught Callie's attention over the noise of the shower running. Her eyes were closed and she was moaning out in ecstasy as Brandon was grinding in and our of her. She opened her eyes and saw her brother standing there in shock. "Jude!" She called out._

_Brandon who was facing toward the shower head, turned his head around to see the young boy staring at his naked butt. He quickly got out of Callie and used his hands to somewhat cover himself._

_Callie got out of the bathtub and grabbed a towel from off of the floor. She tried to get closer to speak with her brother, but he ran away. "Jude!"_

_All his brain was telling him to do was run. So, that's what he did. He ran out of the house. He ran until his body was tired. He ran until he was unable to run anymore and that's when he realized where he had ended up. He was at the cemetery where his mother's body was buried. It was a good five miles away from where his house was. His adrenaline must've been pumping because there was no way with his lack of athletic ability would he normally be able to make it here._

_The teenager made his way to his mother's headstone, sat down next to it, and cried. He cried until his eyes couldn't produce anymore tears and the sky was beginning to turn black._

_Meanwhile at the Foster house, the older teenagers were beginning to get worried about their youngest brother._

_"I can't believe he just left like that? It doesn't sound like Jude. He seemed like he was happy." Mariana said as they all pondered around the wooden table in the kitchen._

_"It doesn't matter why he left. We just need to find him!" Brandon stated as he began to panic. He was sitting at the kitchen, nervously, he bit his finger nails._

_"I might have an idea where he is." Callie finally spoke as she glanced over at Brandon. "Do you think you could take me?"_

_"Sure", he said as he stood up and grabbed his keys. "You guys stay here just in case he comes." He turned his attention to his twin siblings._

_"What are we supposed to tell moms if they come home?" Jesus asked._

_"Tell them we went out for ice cream or something." He hated lying to his moms, but there was no way he wanted them to know about him and Callie. "They don't need the added stress. It won't be good for Lena or the baby."_

_Mariana looked at Jesus. Then they both turned to their oldest brother and nodded their head as if to agree with him._

_The two oldest children walked out of the house and into the car. As soon as they were in the car Brandon hit the steering wheel. "How could we be so stupid?"_

_"We were getting too comfortable with what we were doing." It was true. They had been getting away with sneaking around to sleep together for months._

_"I know." He turned on the car and began to drive. "I just pray this doesn't tear our family apart."_

_The teenage girl looked out the window and into the night sky. "Yeah, me too."_

_A couple of minutes later they were in front of the cemetery. "I think I should speak to him alone." Callie turned and looked at her ex._

_"Okay." He silently stated as he watched her get out the car._

_As she walked the familiar path toward her mothers grave, her heart began to become heavy. She vowed that if Jude ever forgave her for this, she would become a way better sister. Once she began to get close she saw her brother laying next to their mother's tombstone. It was a sad sight to see. "Hey bud."_

_The young boy looked up at his sister. Then turned away. "Go away. You disgust me." He spat at her._

_"Look, I am sorry about what you had to see." She sat down next to him. "You weren't supposed to know about us."_

_"You know..." He still couldn't look at her without seeing the picture of her having sex with him. "this all is beginning to make so much sense."_

_"What are you talking about?"_

_"The reason that you didn't want to get adopted wasn't because you are only a couple months shy of your eighteenth birthday, is it?"_

_The brunette looked down to the ground. The ground that the remains of her mother were only a few short feet away from. "No, I didn't want to get adopted after I moved back in with Stef and Lena because I was with Brandon." She finally confessed._

_"How long?" He asked beginning to get angry. "How long have you guys been seeing each other behind everyones back?"_

_"About a year now. We began dating the day I moved in with my dad. We broke up shortly after I moved back in with you guys. But we were still obviously seeing each other, if that's what you want to call it." It was weird talking to her brother about this kind of stuff._

_"Were...don't you mean are?" Finally, he got the guts to look at his sister._

_A tear threatened to spill from her eye as she said, "it's over." She hadn't told Brandon yet, but it would surprise her if he didn't see this coming. "I am tired of the lying and sneaking around. And I would never take a few hours of pleasure over my relationship with you."_

_"I am getting really tired of forgiving you Callie."_

_The teenager looked at her brother in the eyes. "I know." She looked over at her mothers tombstone. "Mom would want us to be together no matter what."_

_He turned to look over at his mother. "You're not all I have in this world anymore. I have a family now." He thought about the love that he felt being inside of the Foster house. "But it would never be complete without you there. You are my sister."_

_The young girl placed her arm around her brothers shoulder. "I love you, buddy. And I promise that if you forgive me this one last time, I will never do anything to hurt you again."_

_He wanted to believe that so badly, but he knew his sister. She just couldn't stay out of trouble. It was as if it followed her no matter what. "As long as you promise to break this gross hook-up that you have with my adopted brother. Then I will forgive you, but I don't know how long it will take me to forgive him. If I ever forgive him."_

_That's all that she could ask for at this point. "I have one more request. It benefits all involved."_

_"What?"_

_"You can't tell anybody about Brandon and I. Since, I still am technically a foster kid until two months from now, they will surely take me out of that house." She said as she looked at her brother._

_"Don't you think I know that?" He looked at his sister. It was hard for him to lie to his moms. They were the most understanding people that he ever met. However, he knew the consequences were way to risky for his sisters sake. "I won't tell a soul." He got off the muddy ground. He turned to his mom kissed the tombstone and said his goodbyes before walking down to the car. 'I'd rather forget about it anyway.'._

_Callie turned to say goodbye to her mom as well. And then followed her brother down to the car where her ex was standing in front of._

_"He didn't speak or look at me." Brandon said about his little brother who had slammed his car door shut._

_"We have to talk." The teenager said ignoring the obvious animosity between the two boys she loved._

_Brandon looked down and then started to walk over to the drivers side of the car. "I know it's over. There is no need for a long break-up speech. In case you missed the memo, we aren't technically together anyway."_

"So is that the reason you hated the Foster house so much? Is that the reason you started doing drugs? The break-up and the fact that your brother found out?" The lawyer asked becoming engulfed into the story of lust, scandal, and betrayal.

"Not exactly, it's really just the beginning." The teenager stated as she thought about the real reason this was all happening to her.

* * *

><p><strong>Anchor Beach High School<strong>

Jude walked down the hallway of his high school, heading toward his best friend's locker. The commotion from his sisters arrest had subsided over the past couple of months, but he knew it was only the calm before the storm. As soon as the trial started, the attention would be back and in full force. Until then, he took the time to self reflect on a few things. As he made his way to the Connor's locker he could see a female talking to him. Once he got closer he noticed who she was. "Hey..." He directed his attention to his friend.

"Hey, man. What's up?" Connor said as he looked away from the girl who had gotten all of his attention.

"Nothing, I just thought that maybe you would want to come over my house today. I just got this awesome new game system. I thought you could help me break it in?"

"I think that is my cue to go." The young girl who was being ignored stated. "I'll see you later?" She looked over at Connor as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, see you." The young boy said as he watched her walk away, then turned to face his friend.

"What was that all about?" Jude asked feeling as if he just interrupted something between the two.

"I can't come over tonight. I promised Lily that I'd help her with her math homework." The teenager stated with a smile.

"But you hate math?"

Connor laughed at his friends innocence. "I know. It's just the invite for me to go over her house. Her parents are working late tonight." He smiled as he thought about what this could mean for him.

A twinge of jealousy coursed through his veins as he thought about what that meant as well. "So, what exactly are you planning on doing when you go over there?"

A somewhat manly voice came out of the young teenager. "I think tonight is the night."

Jude forced a fake smile over his face, but in his head he was freaking out. "Okay..." Was the only word that he could think of saying. They were fifteen years old, many of the boys his age were beginning to experiment with sex.

"That's all you can say? I am telling you that I will officially be becoming a man in a few short hours and all you can say is 'okay'?" He thought for sure his friend would be happy for him.

"I don't know what else to say. I mean, it's great news for you, but it doesn't do anything for me." He tried to cover up his lack of enthusiasm about the situation.

Connor placed his arm around his shoulder and began to walk with him toward their shared class. "That my friend is where you are wrong. I convinced her to bring a friend for you as well. Later on today, might be the big day for both of us."

"I can't!" He stated as he stopped walking toward the classroom.

"Why not?" The brunette took his arm from around his friend and looked at him in the eyes.

"What would I tell my moms? They pretty much count on me to be home at a certain time every day." He came up with the first excuse that could come to his mind. Lying wasn't one of his best attributes though.

"Tell them the truth. You're going over a friends house to do some homework. You can even give them my parents number. I'm sure they will never follow up on it."

He knew that if he tried to come up with a better lie, then his friend would become suspicious. So, he just placed a smile on his face. "You're right. I'll come with you."

Connor hit his friend on the chest with excitement. "Jude my friend. We will be talking about this day for the rest of our lives."

A reluctant looking Jude looked up at his friend. "I hope so." The truth was he had no clue what his sexual orientation was. It all seemed to confuse him. All he knew was that he felt different. And he always felt like this ever since he could remember. Maybe if he did have an experience with a girl, it would clear up all the confusion.


	11. The Confession Part 2

**A/N: **I am so sorry about the hiatus, but I hope this chapter fulfills what you guys have been waiting on for months. I am sorry to say that the hiatus is here to stay. I can't really pinpoint a time that I will have to finish the next couple of chapters, but trust me they will be finished. I just have so much going on right now that finding time to eat and sleep is rare. But I am dedicated to you guys and I will try to post the next chapter up as soon as possible! Thank you all for your wonderful reviews, patience, and dedication to my story. As long as you guys keep reading, reviewing, and privately messaging me. I will continue to write and post. The next chapter will be: The Confession Part 3, then the trial, and lastly, but sadly the finale. Thank you guys again!

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><p><strong>Chapter 11: <strong>The Confession Part 2

As he was being ushered into the room with other strangers, thoughts began to rush through his head. He began to think that maybe this was the wrong decision. The last couple of conversations that he had with this girl were not nice ones. His heart was still filled with so much hatred toward her, but deep down there was definitely some love left. Because if there wasn't, he wouldn't be where he is now. In a jail, sitting on a hard chair, and looking through a glass mirror. As she walked in with her orange jumpsuit on, traces of her brunette hair were showing from her roots, seeing her run down expression made him wonder if this was the right time for all of this; a wave emotions struck him. Emotions that he couldn't really place his finger on.

"Brandon? What are you doing here?" She breathed into the other end of the telephone conversation.

There was a silence between the ex-lovers. Until Brandon spoke again, "I am leaving to start my first semester in college tomorrow."

Her eyes filled with excitement, but in her heart she felt a little resentment. The fact that he was going away to school made her jealous. He was going to better his future, while her future could very well be living in a jail cell until she dies. "I'm happy for you!"

He nodded his head up and down, then looked down into his lap. So much had changed since the last time that he was supposed to be going away to school. "Don't worry, I'll be back here in time to testify for your trial. It's actually around the time that my summer break is."

Callie nodded her head and then looked at the clock. These scheduled visits were timed and there wouldn't be enough time in the world to sort out what they had been through in the past couple of months. "Why are you really here?" She finally came out and asked.

"I don't want to get on that plane to go away for months still feeling like this." He finally said honestly. "I mean, God!" He took a deep breath to catch his composure. "It's like one minute all I can do is blame you and hate you for what happened. Then the next minute I feel guilty and I blame myself. I should have been there for you! But I was just scared! I didn't know what to do."

She nodded her head up and down then looked at him. It had never dawned on her that he was going through the same emotions that she was going through. "I wake up everyday and it's the first thing I think about and it's the last thing I think about before I go to sleep. It was so painful because it actually happened to me." Her voice became unsteady as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. "You and I both know that's why the drug use started. I wanted to numb these emotions of guilt..."

_A much younger Callie was working her normal hours at the small restaurant she worked at. The future was looking bright for her. Sure there was still a bit of drama going on at the house. Jude wasn't speaking to Brandon at all, but she knew her brother. He would get over what he saw and go back to being the great kid that he was. After everything they had been through, this was nothing._

_"Hey, table two is waiting on you!" Daphne yelled out to her friend while she was counting the money inside the register._

_The much younger teenager smiled, she had just turned eighteen, and she had gotten accepted into the local community college. She walked over to the table with a smile, introduced herself, and took the customers orders for the drinks. As she walked over to the kitchen to fill the cups with fountain soda, the smell of whatever the cook was preparing rushed through her nose. Whatever the smell was, was powerful, and her stomach didn't agree with it. She ran into the bathroom as quickly as she could._

_Farther away, Daphne noticed what was going on. She rolled her eyes, put the money in the cash register, and then took the drinks to the customers that her friend was supposed to be serving._

_A couple of minutes later, a pale looking Callie walked out of the bathroom._

_"Here drink some water." Daphne handed the water. "Go sit."_

_She did what she was told and sat at a table. The restaurant was basically empty, besides that one table that her friend had finished for her. The three women were happily eating their food. She watched as her brown skin friend sat across from her. "It must be a bug or something. It will go away." Her voice was weak._

_"A bug that lasts for a week like this? You were throwing up so badly one day that I had to cover your entire shift." She reminded her._

_"It isn't bad enough where Stef and Lena think I have to go see a doctor. They just assumed it was a 24 hour bug too."_

_"Yeah, well that's because they are either in denial or they don't know that you have been throwing up more than that one day that it was really bad."_

_"What's that supposed to mean?" It was the latter. Lena was heavily pregnant and she was on bed rest. She only left for doctor appointments or lamaze classes. Stef had picked up every shift she could at the station, since Lena wasn't able to work. So, they were pretty busy to really be as hands on as they were before._

_"Any woman who has had a kid come out of their body knows what is going on." She looked at her friend with her eyes open, "you're pregnant."_

_She let out a small laugh and nodded her head no. "I can't be pregnant." She got out of her chair and went to go check on the women who were assigned to her table. But her mind went back to what her friend had said._

_A couple of hours later she was home after working a long weekend shift. She rushed up to Brandon's room and barged in._

_He turned his head in fear, for a second he almost thought it was an intruder. "Shit! You scared me." He said placing his hand on his heart. "Why are you barging in my room like that?"_

_She glanced at what he was doing. In a few short days he was set to fly to New York to do a week freshman orientation for college. Then he was going to fly back for a couple of days to finish packing and say his goodbyes before leaving for a couple of months for the semester. Her heart began to pound as she looked up at him, "I think I might be pregnant."_

_He just stood there in shock. Not knowing exactly what to say to news like that. "What do you mean, 'you think'?"_

_"I haven't taken a test yet to confirm it or anything. But it's a very high possibility. I mean remember the other day I threw up nonstop for hours, then all of a sudden at night I was better. At work I've been extra sensitive to the smell of the food. Sometimes my boobs ache and I've been feeling bloated lately." She was just rambling on because she was so nervous about what all of this could mean for them._

_"Okay, that could all just be your period, right?"_

_"Yeah, and that's what I thought at first. I thought my period is coming and that's why I feel bloated and my boobs ache. I don't really have a very regular flow. Normally, it just comes when it wants to...but then I thought about that night that Jude caught us...and you didn't use a condom because we were in the shower...and I fucked up on my birth control that month..."She nervously continued to rant until all her words just escaped her. When she finally looked up to see what Brandon was doing, he was just sitting there with his hands on his cheeks. "Say something? Anything?"_

_"We have to know." Was all that he could say at this point. "There is no point in us freaking out over something that is just a what if." He walked over to her and looked her in her eyes. "We can schedule an appointment for Monday before my flight leaves. I will come with you."_

_She nodded her head yes. Then she softly embraced his warm hug. As she was in his arms she felt safe to know that she wasn't going to be left to go to deal with this alone, for now._

_The two days before their appointment was torture. They both had to go on with everyday life as if this big news wasn't on their minds. The day before they had taken a pregnancy test and it came out negative, but to be sure they scheduled the appointment anyway. Callie was sure there was something different happening to her, even if it wasn't a baby. However, the actual waiting for the results had to be the worse time of their lives!_

_The clinic was empty and the walls were so pale. But he thought for sure that this was just a scare and Callie was overreacting to want to actually go here. It wasn't until they were sitting in a doctors office where he was telling them the results that he actually understood why._

_"Well, Miss Jacobs. You are indeed pregnant."_

_The initial shock of it all took her by surprise as she began to sob in the doctors office. This couldn't be happening to her! How was she supposed to tell people? Especially Stef and Lena._

_Brandon just stood there. "But the pregnancy test came back negative."_

_"It tends to happen sometimes. Especially if you don't take it in the early morning with your first pee." The doctor said as he looked at the young couple. He waited for the crying to stop from the young girl before he continued. "According to my records you are about eight weeks pregnant." He said looking down at the chart. "You are actually pretty far along! Most women find out they are pregnant within their fifth or sixth week of pregnancy." He then looked up at the young girl who was obviously still in a state of shock. "I know this must be difficult for the both of you, but I have to let you know your options. There are three options of course when it comes to being pregnant. If you choose to keep the baby I will place you on prenatal vitamins as soon as possible, if you choose adoption there is a pamphlet with an excellent agency that can help you through the process, and if you choose to terminate the pregnancy there are two ways you can do so. There is the surgical and medical procedures. There is a pamphlet on that. I must warn you since you are already so far along, that time is of the essence if you do choose to terminate your pregnancy. The medical procedure will no longer be an option for you in about five days."_

_As the doctor was going on about the different types of options she had and handing her all of these pamphlets all she could think about was how many people they were about to disappoint. The fact that she wasn't ready to become a mother. The fact that Brandon was supposed to be going away to his dream university in a few short weeks. The fact that with the addition of Lena's baby, there would be absolutely no room for another baby in that bungalow._

_After a long and quiet drive, they went inside the house as if nothing was bothering them. But of course they were spaced out. They had just gotten the biggest news of their lives. Brandon walked into his room and Callie followed right after him._

_As she walked in she watched as he continued to pack his suitcase. "You are still leaving tomorrow?"_

_"Callie, not now!" He said noticeably frazzled. "I think it would be best if we just took some time to process this separately."_

_She looked at him with a pain in her eyes. "This is not the time for you to be going thousands of miles away!"_

_"I booked this trip way before any of this happened. I am going to this freshman orientation. It is only for a week. I'll be back and then we can deal with this." He said to her as nicely as he could, but he really didn't want to deal with this. He wished he didn't know about this at all. He wished that Jude had walked in just a few minutes before he was able to create a baby. There were so many things that he wanted to do and accomplish before he ever brought a child into the world._

_"I can't believe this." Her voice began to crack as she could feel the lump in her throat. "You are about to leave me here to deal with this alone. News flash, I didn't make this baby by myself!"_

_He finally turned to face her. "News flash, we aren't even together! Technically you are free to sleep with whoever you want to like I am. So how do I even know that it's mine?"_

_"You're an asshole! You know that you are the only person that I have been with willingly." She said starting to feel betrayed and hurt by the only boy she had ever truly loved. "Don't worry about this. I will handle it myself." She walked out the door..._

* * *

><p><strong>Present Day: <strong>

Jude and Connor walked into the young girls house and sat on the couch.

"Do you guys want any snacks or anything?" Victoria, the young girl who invited them over asked.

Jude nodded his head no. His hands were nervously shaking in his lap, the anticipation of what was about to come was making him scared. For a second there was a brief thought to leave, but there was no way out of this without seeming strange.

The doorbell rang, and the young lady went to go open it. She hugged her friend who she had invited to keep Jude company while she was with Connor. The two girls hugged, then walked into the living room together.

"Jude and Connor this is my friend Amber. Amber this is Jude and Connor." She introduced the three people. "Would you like a snack or anything?" She turned to her friend and asked.

"Sure, I'll help you make some." She looked over at the young boys and smiled, then walked into the kitchen with her friend. "You didn't tell me that Connor's friend was that weird Foster kid." She said as soon as they were out of the hearing range from the boys.

"I thought it didn't have to be mentioned. I mean who else does Connor really hang out with?" It was a lie. The teenager knew that if she said it was Jude, that her friend might not show up.

"I don't know! One of his baseball teammates. I thought this guy was gay." Amber sat down on the island in the kitchen and watched as her friend prepared some snacks.

"Me too, but Connor insured me he was straight." She went into the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of liquor. "I'm not asking you to sleep with him or anything, but I need you to keep him company for a while. And this might help."

"Okay, I will do this for you. But you so owe me."

* * *

><p><strong>Flashback: <strong>

_The next day a tired Callie knocked on her friends door. She had spent the whole night tossing and turning. It was as if her mind wouldn't shut off. There were so many things that were so uncertain about her future and she couldn't talk to anybody about this._

_Daphne opened the door, "come in." She was in her pajamas because it was a bit early for her to be up. She didn't have work today and normally she slept in as much as she could. The apartment was only a one bedroom, and since she had gotten custody of her daughter back, she slept out in the living room on a pull-out couch, which was still a bed at that time._

_Callie sat on the chair and watched as her friend went to go put her room back into the living-room. "I'm sorry if I woke you up."_

_"It's okay. I should be up anyway." She looked over at Callie and could see that there was something very serious going on. So, she stopped what she was doing and sat across from her at the table. "What's up? It looks like you've been crying."_

_The teenager nodded her head up and down. "You were right." She looked down at her lap. "I'm pregnant." As she said it a new round of tears threatened to come._

_"Oh, Callie!" Daphne didn't really know what to say. "Who is..."_

_"Brandon." She somewhat whispered._

_Daphne cocked her head back, clearly astonished. She knew that her friend had dated him briefly, but as far as she was concerned they were broken up, and had been for a while._

_"It was stupid. I know. You can yell at me and tell me how irresponsible I am." It was embarrassing to admit that she was pregnant by her foster brother who was also her ex-boyfriend._

_"I can't judge. I mean I got pregnant at fifteen. At least you are out of high school." She said trying to make her friend feel better._

_Callie didn't say anything._

_"Does he know?"_

_That did it for her. Tears began to come out and she began to sob._

_Daphne went over and tried to console her friend, but it wasn't working._

_Her sobs were getting so bad she began to start shaking._

_"It's going to be okay." She whispered in her ear as she kneeled down to hug the young girl. "It will all be fine."_

_After a few minutes, Callie composed herself long enough to answer her friends question. "He was really supportive when he thought that it was just a false alarm. But he hasn't even acknowledged what's happening since we found out it's real. He just calls it a 'situation' that we will deal with."_

_"So, he doesn't want it?" Daphne asked as she went back to her seat._

_"I don't think he wants any of this." She looked up at her friend with a look of sadness in her eyes. "I made an appointment for later on today. I was going to do it alone, but they say that I need a person to drive me home and promise to take care of me when I get there."_

_"Are you saying what I think your saying?"_

_She nodded her head yes. "I can't have a baby with my foster brother. If Stef and Lena find out I don't know what they'll do, but they threatened to arrest Brandon when we just kissed. There is no room for another baby in that house. Brandon is supposed to be going away to school soon. And Jude will never forgive me for this. I will have nobody to help me."_

_"Are you sure?"_

_The truth was that she wasn't. She was still obviously in shock with this whole thing. Everything just felt like a really bad dream and she just wanted it to be over. "I have no other choice..."_

"it's like one minute I feel like I did the right thing and the next minute I feel like I'm a horrible person who killed her baby." She looked at the boy who seemed to become unsettled with the situation. "Everyday my head is filled with 'what if's'."

A heavy sigh escaped his body. So many emotions were coursing through him at the moment, and it was becoming to much for him to choose which one to express. "I know..." He looked up and for the first time in a long time, their eyes had met with one another. It was a slow glare that they used to do when they were still trying to hide their feelings for one another. "I know...I came here to get closure, but I just can't."

"Brandon..."

"It's just too much. All of this is just..." He shook his head and hung up his phone on his side of the thick glass. Then he stood up and walked away. As he walked all he could do was try and regain his composure. His heart still felt love for her, his veins were still feeling angry for the way she let go of their child without his permission, and his head was still as confused as it was since the first time he found out.

* * *

><p><strong>Jude: <strong>

The past half an hour had been the most awkward couple of minutes of his entire existence. The first ten minutes, was just the two teenagers trying to have a conversation. Once they realized that all they had in common was the fact that they both were born and raised in San Diego, that pretty much ended the speaking. The rest had been in utter silence. While their friends were upstairs supposedly, looking for a book so they could start studying.

"It sure is taking them a long time to find that book." Jude said nervously looking at the stairwell from the couch. "Maybe we should go and check on them."

The young girl laughed at how innocent the boy sitting next to her was. "I'm sure they will find it soon." She played along with the story.

Jude was trying to find every single reason to get out of this house. He vowed to himself that Connor would never place him into a situation like this again. As soon as he was about to get up and go look for his friend, the young girl sat next to him on the couch.

"So, you and Jesus are brother's right?" She asked already knowing the answer to what she asked.

"Yeah...we even share the same room." He didn't even know why he told her that. "What does my brother have to do with anything?"

"I don't know." She looked him up and down, then faced toward the door. "I've been to parties where Jesus was there. I have to admit, you two are completely different." She started to face him again. "If he was in this room right now, two things would've happened. I would have kicked his ass for trying to unzip my bra or I would have let him."

Jude laughed at the idea of the two scenarios that she just said. "Well, you do know my brother has a girlfriend right. A very nice one, actually."

"I think everybody knows that. I can't believe that she is so unaware of what her boyfriend is doing." She looked at the young boy and then back down at her hands. "I guess love really can be blind. It can make you blind to who that person really is."

As she was speaking, something just clicked into his head. Here he was sitting on a couch with a girl that he barely knew, while the boy that he had feelings for was upstairs looking for a book with a girl he wanted to have sex with. As if mechanically, he stood up. "I am going to go check on them."

"Jude..." He heard her calling his name, but it was as if an epiphany had just struck him. What was he doing here? Why was he letting Connor do this? Was he one of those people that was blinded by love, but he had no clue. The only love he had ever had was his sister, so maybe this feeling was what every single person in one of those mushy songs were talking about.

As his mind raced with questions he could hear muffled sounds coming from one of the bedrooms. With his mind still occupied with all of these questions, he opened the door to something that was way less dramatic then watching his sister have sex with his brother, but still up there in disgust. His friend was laying there naked with a girl on his chest, just as naked. It looked like they were having a very intimate moment.

"Jude, what are you-"

"I'm about to leave. I just thought you might care to know." He looked at the boy in disgust. He ignored the girl that was laying on his chest. "Oh, and by the way...I think your new girlfriend should know that we kissed."

It was as if all the color drained out of Connor's face as the young girl looked up at him with anger and confusion in her eyes. "What!" Was all Jude heard her scream as he walked down the stairs and out of that house.


	12. The Confession Part 3

**A/N: **I don't think saying sorry will exactly make up for the long hiatus I made you guys endure. So, I hope this long chapter does. It has every single Foster child in here. It ties up some loose ends and starts some stories for other characters. It can be a bit all over the place, but I hope you guys can follow the time-line. Thank you in advance for those who read and review. I have one week of the semester left, finals, and then I fly home. So the next chapter won't probably be up for another month. Definitely, before Christmas though. I hope you guys enjoy! Please read and review ~~

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><p><strong>The Confession: Part 3 <strong>

Callie looked up at the ceiling in her jail cell. The bed was hard, the walls were white, and the air seemed thick. For the past week straight all she kept replaying in her mind was the conversation she had with her ex-boyfriend and foster brother. All she could see when she closed her eyes was Brandon's face when they began to talk about their past. Subconsciously, she rubbed the skin of her stomach. A single tear ran down her cheek.

"Miss Jacobs." A different correctional officer came up to her jail cell and called her name. "I have a surprise for you."

The teenager quickly wiped the tear off her cheek, than looked at the officer. A second later a familiar face stepped inside her jail cell.

"Hi Callie." A thick older woman with glasses said with a smile on her face.

A smile crossed her face to see a familiar face. "Rita!" She screamed like a little girl as she jumped off the top bunk and hugged the woman who was almost like a mother to her. "What are you…"

"Come on. Anybody with a television knows about this arrest." She answered the question before the young girl could ask her. "And it took some time to be able to get in here or else, I would have been here months ago when I first found out."

"It's okay. All that matters is that you're here now." It had been such a long time since she was able to hug anybody. Stef was the last person that held her like this and that was before she was even put in.

The older woman looked over to the correctional officer, "Thank you."

The young man nodded is head, then locked the cell back, and walked out of sight.

"I had to go through so many court hearings to be able to do this. They almost made me go back to school." Rita joked to the teenager. "I would do anything to be able to touch you while we speak."

The teenager held the woman's hand. It had been months since she had an actual conversation with somebody without that thick wall in between them and having to hold a telephone.

"Come sit." The two women sat on the bottom bunk inside the cell. Callie's jail mate had been sentenced to solitary confinement because she got into a fight with another woman in jail during lunch.

As soon as the teenager was over the phase of being in close contact with somebody who she actually liked, the familiar feeling of disappointing somebody came into her head. She looked down at her hands. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize to me." She took her hand and placed it under the young girls chin. "I should be apologizing to you." Her eyes grew wider through her thick glasses. "I must have failed you in order for you to be in a place like this. 'Girls United' was supposed to help you stay out of this place."

She shook her head no. "It wasn't 'Girls United'. The short amount of time that I was there was the most progress that I've ever made in my life!" She reassured her old mentor.

"Then why Callie? I talked to Stef and Lena and they want to know how did this all start happening? Where did we all miss the signs? We knew that you were going through a rough patch with the drugs, but…"

"If I tell you something…I need you to promise me that you won't hate me even more than you do now." Her head sunk again.

"Callie. I could never hate you."

_A younger Callie sat in the passengers seat of her friends old beat up 2000 Nissan Sentra. She was wearing sweatpants, a baggie T-shirt, and her hair was in a bun. The car ride was very quiet. All she could think about was how much of a nightmare this all was and how much she wanted it all to be over. _

_"How are you feeling?" Daphne broke the silence. _

_"Like my boobs are the size of a watermelon and I am about to throw up the non-existent food in my stomach." The brunette said in a short tone. _

_"Have you talked to Brandon?" She ignored her friends' mood because she knew how it felt to be in this position. _

_"I have been calling him since he got off of the plane and he has been ignoring my calls. I text him about ten times just asking him to call me so we can discuss this and still nothing." The truth was the thought made her want to cry, but she was numb to every single emotion at the present time. _

_She placed her hand on top of her friends, while using the other to continue to drive. "You don't have to go through this alone. I am here." _

_Her brown eyes looked at her friends. Even with those kind words, she still felt completely by herself. "Thank you." She responded meekly. _

_A couple of minutes later they pulled up inside the 'Planned Parenthood' parking lot. They went to the one on the outskirts of town so that nobody would run into them or spot them. _

_Callie's heart sank a little as she realized what she was doing, but it was as if she were in this dream. All of a sudden she felt a light hit on her arm. _

_It was Daphne's hand, which had her cell phone enclosed in it. "Call him one last time." _

_The teenager took her phone and dialed the number that she knew by heart. It rang a couple of times before his familiar voice picked up the phone. _

_"Hello?" _

_"Oh. So you can answer an unknown number but ignore mine!" She said loudly over the phone. "Way to abandon me." _

_"Callie, I can't deal with this right now! I will be home in a couple of days and then we can figure all of this out, but for right now...I'd like to act like a normal teenager for a couple of days." _

_She let out a dry laugh. "You are able to do that because this isn't happening to you! Do you want to know what I've been doing for the past forty-eight hours since you've been gone? I've been crying, puking my guts out, and trying to stay sane!" Her voice became louder with every word. _

_"And what do you think I've been doing? Huh? I am currently the worse person in this orientation right now because every single time I am at the piano instead of thinking about the keys all I can think about is how my whole life is fucked up because of one night with you!" _

_"Just say it already, okay. Say how you really feel. Anything is better than you shutting me out like this!" _

_"Fine. I always thought that when I would have a kid that I would be older, settled, and in love with the woman that was having my baby." _

_The last phrase hurt her to her core, but all of the crying she had been doing the last couple of days had numbed her. "I hate you. When you come back leave me alone!" _

_"Callie-" She hung up her friends phone. _

_Daphne could tell by the demeanor of her brunette friend that the conversation wasn't going as well as she'd hope. _

_"Let's go do this." Her voice was firm as the two woman walked into the clinic together. After a couple of excruciating minutes of waiting in the waiting room she was called inside of the doctors office. _

_The doctor looked at the charts that he was handed, then looked up at the teenager. "It looks like you've decided to terminate this pregnancy using the medical method. What I will be doing now is giving you a pill to take in this office. You will go home today and tomorrow around this time you will have to take the second pill. Once you take the second pill, I advise you to go somewhere comfortable for you because it will extract the fetus." _

_She nodded her head letting the doctor know that she knew what was about to happen. _

_Daphne placed her hand on her friends shoulder, "are you sure about this?" _

_Callie took the paperwork that the doctor had given her and signed her name on the line. All that went through her head was that she had never had a female role model to teach her how to be a mother, the father of her child just let her know that he wasn't in love with her anymore, everybody in that house would know that her and Brandon had sex, Stef might blame her for the downfall of her son, and if they didn't kick her out there would be no room for her baby in that tight bungalow. It wasn't her choice, but the choice of the circumstances around her. _

_The teenager took the pill the doctor handed to her and using water swallowed it…_

_Meanwhile, in New York City Brandon was set to perform his final solo act before a few of his professors in just a couple of hours. Thanks to the impending idea of fatherhood, he pretty much sounded like he did when he first picked up a piano at age five. Every single person in his orientation class was making fun of him and it was driving him crazy. _

_He was in the auditorium practicing on the piano unsuccessfully. "Damn it!" He hit the keys on the piano out of frustration. _

_"Your hearts not in it son." An old white man with glasses and gray hair called out to the young boy who was on stage by himself. "You sound like a man who is playing for the sport and not for the craft." _

_Brandon looked up from his piano and to the voice that was talking to him. His eyes widened as he realized who was speaking to him. "You're Seymour Lipkin!" _

_"Yes, that would be me. I'm glad to see that you know your stuff." The older man smiled as he sat on the piano bench with the young man. _

_"Of course I do. You're like a living legend around here! I was hoping that I would have you as one of my professors. I really look up to you…" _

_"I was actually one of the judges in the panel when you auditioned. You reminded me of a younger version of myself. It was as if you put your heart and soul into the piano. I was the one who fought for you to get into this school." _

_Hearing that one of the many pianists that he looked up to fought for him to get into his dream school, made his heart enlarge with pride. _

_"So you can imagine my surprise when you get here and sound like this." He looked at the boy. "What's her name?" _

_The teenager looked at the older man as If to ask how did he know. _

_"We've all been there." _

_"Her name is Callie." With a tear threatening to spill from his eyes. "I lied to her earlier today and told her that I didn't love her. And I don't know why." _

_"I can't tell you the answer to that. But what I can tell you is that if you don't fix whatever is going on with her, you might as well not be here." _

_He looked up at the young man. "I have a favor to ask you…" _

_The next day after leaving the doctors office, Callie made her way to Daphne's apartment. It still felt surreal to her everything that was going on. _

_"Do you feel okay?" She heard her friend ask as they walked though Daphne's apartment door. _

_"I feel fine. I actually feel really relieved that this is all about to be over. I can go back to living my life and Brandon can go back to just being my brother." The teenager said with a breath of fresh air. _

_"Are you sure that is ever going to be able to happen? I mean he was almost the father of your child." _

_"Almost…" The brunette sat down on the couch. "That's the key word." She looked up at her friend. "Listen, I truly appreciate you for everything you have done. But after this is fully over, I would really appreciate it if you would never bring this up again. I just want to pretend as if it never happened." _

_"You don't have to ask me twice! You know that emotional stuff ain't for me anyway." The brown skinned teenager looked up at the clock that was on her living room wall. "Do you think you will be okay for a couple of minutes while I go get Tasha?" _

_"Yes, I feel fine." She shooed her friend out of her apartment, then walked into the kitchen. She began to boil some water when all of a sudden there was a warm feeling coming down her legs, than a cramp hit her. It was worse then a period cramp, but not as severe as to debilitate her. She took a deep breath to wait for it to go away, than stopped the water from boiling. _

_Another cramp hit her immediately this one caused her to place her hand on the countertop. A small moan escaped her lips as she could feel sweat begin to form on her forehead. An urge to use the bathroom overtook her body, so she tried to walk toward the bathroom. _

_About twenty minutes later Daphne walked in with her young daughter behind her. As soon as she walked in she could tell there was something wrong. "Callie!" She called out into the small apartment. _

_Her daughter ran into the bedroom to play. _

_"Tasha! Come out to the kitchen and do your homework!" She called out to her daughter who stomped out of her room and sat down at the table. _

_With her daughter safely in the front of the apartment she went to go look for her friend. "Callie!" About thirty seconds later she found her friend curled up over the table with blood all over the white tiled bathroom floor. "Callie!" She called after her friend as she ran over to her. _

"I saw it in the toilet." A tear ran down her cheek as the image became imprinted in her head all over again. "It looked like a tadpole and I had to flush it down the toilet like it was a goldfish."

"Oh my God." Rita said as she hugged her. "That wasn't supposed to happen! You weren't supposed to see that."

"Everyday for the past year it's the only image I can think about when I wake up and the last thing I think about before I go to sleep. I had nightmares and anxiety issues. The only reason I could even function without it taking over me is because of the weed and eventually the pills." The teenager admitted into the chest of her mentor.

"Honey, why didn't you get some help?" She said as she stroked the young girls wavy brunette hair.

"It's embarrassing! I know Stef and Lena are pretty chill when it comes to mostly everything, but when it comes to Brandon and I they tend to freak out."

"You have to let them know about this on the stand. It can only help your case."

* * *

><p><strong>Foster House:<strong>

Jesus walked into the bedroom he shared with Jude and saw his little brother crying. It had been going on and off for days. For a while Jesus thought that it would just go away, but it hadn't.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He finally asked his little brother.

"No, can you just go back to ignoring me?" Jude asked as he wiped his tears away. In the past couple of days he has felt so alienated by the only person who was getting him through all the changes in his life.

"Well, I tried…I really wasn't cut out of this oldest thing anyway." Jesus said as he lifted his shoulders and walked away.

"You're not supposed to give up that easily!" He yelled out to him. "You're supposed to keep trying."

"Hey, it's not like Brandon left me with this guide on how to be an older brother. I am pretty much winging it here, so please cut me some slack."

The youngest boy Foster rolled his eyes. "I caught Connor in bed with a girl the other day."

Jesus' eyes widened. He began to get a bit uncomfortable. "I am not the person you should be talking to about this. Maybe you should get one of moms."

"Are you kidding me? You have had plenty of woman come in and out of this house in the past couple of years. How do you get them to do what you want?"

"First of all, I am an expert at women not men. Second of all, I haven't had that many women come into this house." He said in a matter-of-fact type of way.

"I share a room with you! Please, stop lying." Jude rolled his eyes. "I have never seen you cry over any one of them. How do you stay so unattached?"

The young boy looked at his little brother. "I cried over one girl before. Do you remember Lexi?" He looked over at the brunette kid who was nodding his head. "I loved her man. She was the only girl that I ever cried over because she left me."

"How did you get over her?"

"I moved on to Emma. And before Emma could hurt me I moved on to Hayley before I got back with Emma." He looked at the youngest Foster. "I guess my advice to you would be to find someone else. It's better than sitting in this room and sulking all day."

"Thanks." He said as he stood up and gave his brother a pat on the back. "I don't think that is the advice that Brandon would've gave me, but it may work."

Meanwhile, outside the house Mariana was inside the car of her current boyfriend. The past couple of months with everything that happened with Callie had caused them to be close. He was the only guy at school that really understood everything that she was going through.

"I-have-to-go." She said in between kissing his lips.

The African American male looked at the dashboard of his old car. "You have two more minutes." He said with a smile.

Mariana looked him in his eyes and began to make out with him again. Then she let up. "I have to go. My moms are going to freak if I'm even a minute past curfew. Ever since everything went down with Callie, they are ruling that house with an iron fist."

"Okay, I'll see you later." He said as he kissed her sweetly one more time, then watched as she made her way across her front yard and into her house.

The teenager closed her front door behind her and smiled at the thought of what had happened that day. It wasn't romantic or anything, but she had been spending more time at his side of town. This time they actually cooked dinner for his little sister and just watched one of his favorite movies. It was so simple, but it was something that was missing in her home life ever since Callie and Jude moved in. It had been non-stop drama for years.

"Mariana could you come here please."

The young girl walked into the kitchen where her moms were both sitting down on the dinning room table. Their faces seemed serious, which caused her to get worried. "What's up? Is this about Callie?"

"No, honey. It's not." Stef said as she watched her daughter sit at the table across from them.

"It's about Dorian, sweetheart." Lena said as she held her daughters hand. "It has come across the school boards attention that he doesn't exactly live where he says he does. They want him to go to the school that he is districted to be at."

The girl nodded her head no. "It's his senior year! You can't do this to him! Do you know what kind of school you will be sending him too?" She said as she got off of the table and looked at her moms. "Can't you just let him stay for a couple more months? Just until he graduates?"

"I tried. I really did. But the school is becoming overpopulated with students who are lying about the houses they live in to go to a better school. We need to focus on the students who actually can afford houses in the Anchor Beach School District. We are sending over one hundred students back to their districted schools and he just so happens to be one of them." Lena tried to reason with her daughter.

"Do you know what that school will do to him? He isn't this gangsta black guy! He won't be able to survive there." She said becoming more upset about the situation.

"You are acting like we are sending him to jail. It's just a school Mariana. Don't be so overdramatic." Stef said as she stood up and tried to walk toward her daughter.

"No, I've been to that side of town since we started talking! It's not a nice place. You might as well be sending him to a jail." She confessed to her moms.

"Excuse me?" Stef asked with a look of confusion on her face.

"I have been going over to the rougher parts of town ever since I've been seeing him. It's not bad if you know where to go and South Side High School is one of those places to not go!"

"Mariana I forbid you to go back to that side of town!" Stef yelled at her. "I am a police officer and I know what goes on over there! It is not a place where I want my daughter."

"I can't see Dorian in school or go over his place anymore? How do you expect me to see him?" She yelled back at her mom.

"You can see him here with us supervising." Lena said as she looked up at her wife. "Go upstairs and calm down. I don't like the tone you are giving us."

Mariana rolled her eyes, whispered something under her breath, and then ran up the stairs into her room.

"What are we going to do with these teenagers of ours?" Stef asked as she sat back down at the table with her wife.

"I think we can allow her to go to his place as long as that's all she goes to over there." Lena finally spoke up. "You pretty much made that decision yourself without even consulting me about it."

"Look, honey. You don't see what I see when I go over to those parts of town. It is a bad area. The last thing I want is to be called by Mike again at two o'clock in the morning telling me there was a shooting and Mariana was shot. I can't take it if anything else happened to one of our kids." She said looking at her wife.

"So, why are we sending that young man over to that school?" Lena asked confused as to why the school board would want a child to learn in that type of environment.

"I don't know. I agree with Mariana on that one." The blond woman replied as she looked at her wife. "Let's not argue about the kids tonight. I just want to cuddle." She fake cried as she leaned in and kissed her wife.

"Maybe we can do a bit more than that." Lena smiled as she accepted the kiss.

* * *

><p><strong>Julliard:<strong>

Brandon was upstairs in his dorm room. The nightlife of New York City had really taken a toll on his practicing. Every single time he was supposed to sit down and play the piano in his dorm, somebody would come in and ask him if he wanted to go out and do something. It had become apparent that the only place he could practice in peace was on the piano in the auditorium.

"You made it back I see." Professor Lipkin said with a smile. "I have to admit that when you told me you were going to become a father and you were going to take a semester off to be with the mother, I was worried I'd never see you again."

The young man chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah, well it didn't quite turn out the way I thought it would…"

_Callie was in her bed at the Foster house just taking it easy. She had convinced Stef and Lena that she was just run down and needed a couple of days to recover. They were into getting everything ready for the baby that they barely even cared about anything else. She heard a light knock on the door. "Come in." _

_Brandon walked in with a distraught look on his face. "Hey." _

_She looked up at him with a wide look in her eyes. "Hi." She responded as she looked away from him. _

_"I completely deserve to be ignored, cursed out, yelled at, hit…whatever you want to give me. I have been a total jackass to you." He walked closer to her bed. "I know this doesn't even begin to cover what I owe you, but I am sorry for everything." _

_Callie continued to look at the wall of her bedroom. _

_"I took the semester off at Julliard." He said knowing that would get a reaction out of her. _

_She quickly turned her head as if to say she was listening. _

_"I told my professor about our situation and he was telling me that they have family housing there. We can all go together next semester. You, me, and our baby." _

_"Why would you want to get an apartment with a girl that you don't even love?" She said quietly. _

_"I was lying when I said I didn't love you, okay. It's just the love we have for each other is so complicated. This baby is going to make it even more complicated, but maybe this was supposed to happen. Maybe this was the push that we both needed to finally say fuck what everybody else thinks, we can do this!" _

_A tear ran down her cheek. "Do you mean it?" _

_"I'm as serious as a heart attack." He admitted. "It's going to be hard. Nothing for us has ever been easy, but I love you and I am willing to work at it if you are." _

_"Brandon…" She whispered. "I'm not pregnant anymore." _

_He looked at her with his eyes wide open. Then he began to notice that she was in her bed in mid-day, her expression was warn out, and her face looked as if she had been crying all day. "Oh my God. Did you loose the baby?" _

_She wanted to tell him that it wasn't nature that made her loose their baby, but it was her decision. But everything that he had just told her made it impossible for her to let him know that. She just nodded her head yes. _

_"I am so sorry that I wasn't here for it." He went up to her and hugged her. "I promise you that one day we will be able to be together. And we can try again." He said as he continued to hug her. _

_A week later everybody was at the hospital waiting for Lena to give birth to the baby. All the teenagers had been sitting in the waiting room for hours. Every so often, Stef would come out to check on them and give them an update. _

_Stef came out again this time in scrubs and a mask with a big smile on her face. "She's here! The baby is here!" _

_All the teenagers yelled happily and gave their mom a group hug. "How's mom?" Jude asked, as he looked up at his other mother. _

_"Her blood pressure went back up during labor which is a red flag because of the pre-eclampsia from the other pregnancy. So they ended up doing a C-Section. She's doing fine though and so is the baby. The baby should be in the nursery now, come and see her." _

_Callie hesitated a bit as Jesus, Mariana, and Jude followed Stef upstairs. Brandon noticed and put his hand out for her. _

_She placed her hand inside of his and followed. She fake smiled through all of the pictures and laughs. Then she stood behind as everybody went to go visit Lena. Her eyes were just glued on baby-girl Adams-Foster. It was as if something was ripping at her heart and the insides of her stomach at the same time. _

_"It's going to be okay. I know it still hurts, but eventually the pain will go away." Brandon spoke from behind her. _

_She nodded her head no as tears began to pour down her eyes uncontrollably. "I didn't loose the baby the way you think I did." She said in tears. "I had an abortion." _

_After about two minutes of silence, he finally spoke "What?"_

_She turned around and gave him a sad look. _

_Without saying anything he just walked away with a look of confusion on his face. _

_A cab ride later, Callie was at the Foster home thinking about how this conversation with Brandon was about to be. He abruptly left the hospital and until pulling up and seeing his car, nobody knew exactly where he had gone. When she walked inside the house it was quiet. She walked into the kitchen and found her foster brother sitting on the dining room table with his head in his hands. _

_"Look, Brandon. I know that you are probably upset and you have every right to be. I did something that was so final without your decision, but if you really think about it maybe it was the best thing for all involved." _

_"How?" He said with an angry undertone in his voice. "I gave up everything to be with you! I gave up my family, I almost gave up my freedom for you, I got beat up for you, I almost lost being able to play a piano for you, and I gave up Julliard for you! And all you ever do is find a way to screw me over." _

_"That's not fair!" _

_"No!" He stood up and looked at her as he pointed a finger. "What's not fair is that I have to live with you for the next couple of months knowing that you killed my kid without even consulting me about it!" _

_"I tried! That day when I called you, I tried to tell you that I was about to get rid of it. But you told me that you didn't love me anymore!" She screamed back at him. "And you are the one that left me to go thousands of miles away to the school of your dreams!" _

_"I left to follow my dreams. And then I got there and left my dream to follow you! I always give up something to be with you, but you can never give up anything to be with me! You couldn't wait a couple of days until I got back so we could have figured this out together? That was my kid too!" He screamed. _

_"What do you want me to say? I'm sorry. I just thought at the time it was the best thing for everybody. Do you know what Stef and Lena would've done if they found out you and I were sleeping together behind their backs?" _

_"They would have to get over it!" He went up to her and looked her in the eyes. "Everybody told me that you were going to hurt me. Tayla and even my own father, but I still went after you. If I even thought it would be this deeply, I would have listened." _

_"Brandon…" _

_"No!" He stopped her. "I hate you and I don't ever want to see you again. But we are supposed to be 'siblings', so I have to fucking live with you! So for the next couple of months try and stay out of my way."He bumped her on his way to up the stairs into his bedroom.  
><em>

_A shaken Callie stood in the kitchen and let out a piercing cry.  
><em>

"That's deep." Professor Lipkin said as he listened to the boys story. "Whatever happened to her?"

"She turned to drugs for a while, got involved in the wrong crowd, ended up dating this bad boy, and is in jail awaiting trial for his murder." As he thought about everything that Callie had been through and still has gone through, it did make the part that still loved her ache. But it was tainted by so much hate that is was almost like he was immune to the feeling of feeling sorry for Callie.

The older man looked at the young boy. "It sounds like you dodged a bullet to me. That girl had a lot of issues before you ever stepped into her life. Just be lucky you aren't tied down to a kid with her. It would have been years of heartache. Trust me, I know."

Brandon green eyes looked up at the older man. "Yeah, I guess."

"The only good thing about all of that pain is...good music is written and played." He pointed to the composition that was on the top of the piano. "I'm sure a lot more of these songs will bring on new meanings." He patted the young man on the shoulder, then left him in the auditorium to continue to practice.


End file.
